On the Edge
by Kiara Gray
Summary: Set after a Brave New World, the heroes have to escape a new enemy with the help of a new hero. Sylar has to come to terms with his feelings for Claire as the rest of them try to find a place in a world where a mad man wants to destroy them.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter one

Savior

Claire laid in the bed and stared at the ceiling. She strained her ears to hear anything outside her door but there was nothing. Just the sound of her heart beat and her slow breathing. She didn't know how long she had been in here exactly, maybe a few months. With nothing but her thoughts to accompany her, she replayed what had happened.

Once she had leapt from that Ferris wheel, she had hoped that it would be alright. But minutes after jumping dark vans had pulled up and armed men jumped out. They began firing tranquilizer darts into the crowd and they didn't seem to care who they hit. She had watched as both Hiro and Ando took darts and fell to the ground. Several of the carnies had tried to run but they too had been gunned down. She had watched in horror as Peter took three darts before falling. Running she had tried to protect him but she had felt the darts hit her back and knew she wouldn't make it too him. She had landed face first in the dirt as the darkness took over her mind. The last thing she saw was Sylar running towards her while electricity ran all over his body. Then she slid into nothing.

When she came around she was here, strapped down in a bed with doctors looking over her. They had tested her limits of course. Seeing what she could and couldn't do. So far they hadn't found anything that couldn't heal. The doctors would smile at her and call her their little miracle. She had spat into their face and called them very rude names. She had been OK until the injections. The doctors had calmly informed her that they need to reconnect her pain receptors to help them with their research. At first she had been happy. That was what she wanted. Feeling pain was what made her human. But once it had started she hated herself for ever wishing for it. She had to be injected every few days or the pain would go away. And oh how she wished it would. When they cut her foot off she had felt as the blade went through her bone. When then cut her skin off she had screamed and cried, begging them to stop. But of course they hadn't. All she was to them was research. And now she was trapped here with no hope of escape.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Kassy looked up at the huge building in front of her. On the outside it looked like a huge factory standing out in the middle of nowhere. But she knew what it was. She could feel _them_ inside the gray building. She was currently disguised as an orderly who worked in the building, just getting to work a little late. The real orderly was of course tied up at his house. He hadn't been her first choice appearance wise being only 5'8 and balding. But she would go unnoticed once she entered and that was what she needed. Her people were in there. Though she didn't know any of them, they were like her and she wouldn't stand for them being rounded up and imprisoned like lab rats. She had used one her many abilities to find them and now that she had she wasn't leaving without them. Walking in she held up her identification card and the guard nodded, letting her through. The building had several stories and hundreds of rooms. She hoped that most of the prisoners were kept on the same floor. She just needed to figure out which floor that was. Getting on an elevator she stared at the buttons trying to decide which one was the correct one. Before she could pick one another man joined her in the elevator.

"Stanly." The man nodded.

She nodded back, wishing she knew this man's name.

"Which floor are you headed to?" He asked.

"I'm going to see the prisoners." She said, peaking at him out of the corner of her eye.

"Oh well that's just the floor below mine." He smiled, pushed the number six.

Kassy nodded and pushed five. The elevator rose too slowly for her liking. She didn't want to have to make conversation with the man beside her. She really would have liked to smash his head through the elevator door but she figured that wasn't subtle enough. She absently reached up to brush her long dark hair out of her face before remember she didn't currently have much hair. The elevator dinged and the doors slid open to reveal a long corridor. She stepped out and looked back once more at the other man. He smiled as the doors slid shut. She let out a shiver of revulsion. Turning back to the hallway she got back to her mission.

She chose the first door to her right and peered in. A man lay strapped to a metal table. Sliding her card on the pad, the door opened to let her in. Closing it behind her she observed the man. He had dark hair and thick eyebrows. Four I.V.s were hooked up to him, all dripping a tranquilizer into his system. She wondered what could possibly be so bad about him that he needed four I.V.s. Concentrating she used one of her abilities to freeze frame the camera. Running to him she pulled all four I.V.s out of his skin and began to undo the many straps holding his arms down. These people really didn't want him getting out. His eyes fluttered as he came to, looking around. When his eyes stopped on her he seemed to come out of the daze quicker. She had already undone his arms and was now working on his legs. But with a flick of his hand she was sent flying into the wall. She gave a small cry of surprise.

"What are you doing?" She shouted.

"Killing you." He said, as though it should be obvious.

"Don't be stupid" she glared "I'm getting you out of here."

He frowned "After relishing in my torture for these past few months why would you do that?"

"Oh, right." She said looking down at herself. She had forgotten what she looked like. "I'm not actually this guy. I'm a shape shifter and I broke into this place to get you all out. The real guy is tied up at his house with a pretty bad concussion."

She stared at him realizing that she sounded crazy and he wasn't going to believe her. But to her surprise he did. She slid to ground and helped finish untying his legs.

"We have to hurry. I froze the image on the camera but any minute now they are going to come and check on you."

He nodded and followed her into the hallway.

"What's your name?" she asked.

"Sylar."

She raised her eyebrows. Weird name. Just then a scream came from far off somewhere. Sylar froze and looked in the direction the scream had come from.

"Claire." He said quietly.

He obviously knew whoever had screamed. She didn't want to know how he knew what her scream sounded like. He began to walk in the direction it had come from. She grabbed his arm to stop him.

"Wait, you have to help me get the others out."

He turned and gave her a look that would make anybody else run in fear. But she wasn't just anybody. She raised her eyebrows in a challenging manner. He seemed to decide that fighting her wasn't in his best interest so he looked around the hallway. He walked to a door and pointed to the name on the board beside it.

"Him, he will help you."

"Hiro Nakamura." She read out loud.

They both heard the same scream from somewhere in the distance and with that he was gone, running down the hall. She turned back to the door and sighed. Going in she saw a small Asian man lying hooked up to tubes. She quickly pulled those out and unstrapped him. Just then she heard shouts from down the hall. Crap! She shook the man trying to wake him. His eyes fluttered open and stared at her.

"Hurry, we have to go! Men are coming!" she shouted, shaking him just then the door burst open and men began to run in. Then everything stopped. The men stood with their guns partially raised and their faces frozen in random expressions. She looked back at the man and he smiled at her. A time stopper. Well he could be useful.

"Come on." She urged. "We have to get you and all the other prisoners out of here."

He nodded and stood.

"Your name is Hiro?" she asked.

He nodded again "Yes, and what is your name?"

"Kassy."

He stared at her for a moment before saying slowly "That is a good name."

She couldn't help but let out a small laugh. It had been a while since she had laugh. They maneuvered around the men and back into the hall way. They went to each room and pulled the tubes out of each prisoner and untied them. Each time Hiro unfroze and then quickly refroze time while holding the persons hand so that they could move freely with them. Soon they had a very large group of people following them. They guards that had run into Hiro's room where barely turning back to the hall. The next room they went to was for a man named Mohinder.

"Doctor Suresh." Hiro exclaimed.

They did the same thing with him as they had done with all the others. Only this time Hiro leaned in too close as Mohinder woke up. With a cry a surprise Mohinder struck out with his arm. This sent Hiro back into the wall, knocking him unconscious.

"Great!" she cried. "He was our best shot at getting out of here."

"Hiro!" Mohinder cried, leaping from his bed.

"He's fine, just knocked out." She frowned.

There was a shout from down the hall.

"Crap, the guards are coming! Carry him."

He scooped Hiro up and threw him over his shoulder like it was nothing.

"But what's going on?" he asked, following her out of the room.

"This is a jail break."

"But who are you?" he frowned

"Your hero." She said with a flirtatious wink.

For a moment she didn't understand the look her gave her until she once again realized she was a short balding man. She was going to have to drop this disguise soon. It was really getting on her nerves. The crowd followed her down the hall at a fast rate until someone cried out for them to stop. It was a telepath named Matt Parkman.

"Peter's in here! We have to get him out."

At the mention of his name several of the people in the crowd seemed to get more hopeful. Whoever this Peter guy was he was obviously important. Kassy tossed Matt her key card and he ran into the room. Just then there shouts from down the hall, she knew they were coming. Several of the people in the group took off down the hall in the opposite direction, but several others stayed put. She wasn't sure whether this was for this Peter or because they were counting on her to get them out. Mohinder stood with Hiro on his shoulder looking worriedly down the hall. Beside them were people she had just been introduced to. The tall blonde was Tracy and the curly haired boy was Micah. A little girl clung to Mohinder whose name was Molly and behind her was a dark skinned man who Matt had simply called The Haitian. A deaf woman named Emma had her eyes leaping from person to person as though she didn't want to miss anything. There was another Asian man whose name was Ando and another with a thick accent named Edgar. There were many others still there, clinging to each other for support. They all stared down the hall as the shouts became louder. Several people stepped forward as though to protect the rest, but she moved to the front. It was her turn to kill as many of these bastards as she could.

She felt one her powers that she had repressed for a long time quiver to the surface. She didn't like using this power because of the headache it gave her but right now it would be useful.

"Step back." She said to the others. They did as they were told. The air in front of her began to quiver. The men that came around the corner at that moment had no clue what they were stepping into. The moment their bodies came in contact with the air in front of them they disintegrated into nothing. The five men were gone. She turned back to the others who all seemed to be a little more frightened of her now. They looked even more frightened when she gave them a pleased smile.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Escape from Hell's View

The moment Sylar had heard her scream his body had kicked back into motion. A long time ago he had enjoyed the sound of people screaming. At least it felt like a long time ago to him. Trapped in his head with nothing but his thoughts, until Peter came. For those five years alone together they had nothing to do but talk. He was surprised at how much that had helped him. What had once been an unhealthy obsession with Claire had become something different. He felt so sorry for everything he had done to her. Now all he wanted was to protect her. Running down the hallways he followed the screams until they stopped. What did that mean? Had they slit her throat? She would heel from that. But what if they did something worse? What if they cut off her head? She wouldn't come back from that.

Feeling a new fury burning in his skin he raced faster down the hall. He burst through the doors at the end and stopped. A doctor and nurse were standing over Claire's still body. A decapitated leg lay on the table beside them as did a hand. Both appendages were already growing back on her body but she had obviously passed out from the pain. A fury boiled up inside him that made him think of how he used to be. How he was about to be. He held up a hand and both doctor and nurse flew into the wall, their eyes wide with horror.

"You think that's interesting?" he asked nodding to Claire. "You like cutting of her limbs and watching them grow back like a damn Chia Pet?"

The doctor shook his head vigorously. "It's all for research! I don't enjoy it!" he cried.

"Well I'm going to enjoy this." He said, raising his hand. But he stopped. If he killed them brutally there was a good chance he would revert into his old self. Someone that Claire would hate. With a sigh he simply broke their necks, allowing them to die quickly. He turned back to the girl lying limp on the table. She was now fully intact and looked just as he remembered her. He ran a finger over her face to move the hair out of her eyes. He imagined that if she woke up right now to find him touching her she would probably try to bite his finger off. He smirked at that mental image as he picked her up and went to find the others.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Kassy led the group of about twenty people down the hall as quickly as she could. They had to find the exit. They couldn't all fit in the elevator and she knew better than for them to split up. Running down the hallway they stopped short. Three men ran around the corner raising guns. She stepped into action. Her fist hit the first man's jaw with a crack. Using one of her favorite abilities she flipped herself over the man and kicked the other in the face. However this body was too short stubby for her to really do much harm. So as she leapt into the air to hit the third man she shifted into her normal self. Within a second long dark hair sprung from her head and she shot up three inches. He waist slimmed considerably her arm grew a few inches longer. So when she brought her fist down on the last man her punch had some extra momentum to it. The man fell but moved to get back up. With a quick twist of her arms she broke his neck. She turned back to the others who all stared with open mouths.

"You're a woman?" Matt asked incredulously. For a telepath he wasn't that bright.

"Duh." She smirked.

Just then the building shook and the wall beside them collapsed. A man stepped through the now large hole. She smiled at the sight of Sylar. There was a gasp of anger and fear from the crowd behind her. So she had been right in thinking this man was dangerous. The only ones who seemed glad to see him were Peter and Emma.

"Sylar!" Peter welcomed, reaching out to his friend. The others looked with obvious confusion between the two men. Emma smiled happily at the sight of him.

Kassy noticed the girl in his arms. Or perhaps 'girl' wasn't the right word. She looked to be about twenty with long blonde hair the hung all around her face.

"Claire!" Peter cried with relief obvious on his face. He reached out and took the girls hand. Sylar held her closer to himself protectively.

"Not that I don't love reunions but we have to go!"

Sylar looked up at her and frowned. "Who are you?"

She rolled her eyes and pointed to the orderlies now very baggy clothes. "I'm the one you tried to kill a bit ago."

"You'll have to be more specific." He smirked, though he obviously now knew who she was.

She led them to a stair case that she prayed would lead them outside. Instead when they burst through the doors at the bottom of the stair they came out into the small sitting area she had first passed through on her way in. Twenty guards were all posed in position with their gun pointed directly at them.

"Surrender now and go back to your rooms or we will open fire." One of the guards shouted.

She wished that Sylar could hear what she was thinking so he could help on her plan. She saw him turn to her out of the corner of her eye and nod. Huh, so he could hear her. At the same time they both lifted a hand, splitting the guards down the middle and sending them flying into the walls. They held them their while the others ran through the door. Sylar still held Claire against himself, cradling her with his one free arm. They ran after the rest into the large expanse of open fields. Hiro had come around and was now stumbling after them, very confused as to what had happened.

She knew that the rest of the guards would be coming after them and there was nowhere else to go. They were stuck.

"Hiro!" Peter cried, grabbing the small man's arm. "How many people can you teleport at the same time?"

Hiro thought about it for a moment before saying "Three!"

Peter nodded "Me too. Where are we going to go?"

"There's a town in Michigan called Kingsford." She said "Go to the address 1664 Garden lane. There's a house there where we will all be safe."

Both men nodded, grabbing hold of others near them.

"Sylar give me Claire." Peter said, reaching for her.

Sylar held her closer to himself for a moment.

"I have to get her out of here. If more guards come you can't fight if you are holding her." Peter reasoned.

After a moment Sylar nodded and dropped her into his arms. With Peter holding Claire and both Micah and Molly cling to him he disappeared. Hiro did the same with Emma, a teenage girl named Amanda, and Tracy. The rest of the group continued to run. She could hear the vans that were now chasing them getting closer. Sylar turned and saw one approaching. He lifted his hand and sent it flying. Peter and Hiro popped back in and grabbed another six. They continued to do this until there were only five of them left. She, Sylar, Matt, Mohinder, and Edgar all ran together. The vans had circled around and were now surrounding them. The men leapt from the open doors and pointed their guns at them.

She prepared herself for a fight, flexing her fingers. With a slight sound Peter appeared next to her. He grabbed both her and Sylar and with a smile and a little wave, they disappeared. The last thing she heard was a gunshot ring out.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Unlikely Prince

When they reappeared they were standing in front of a huge house. Or maybe mansion was a better description for it. Peter let go of two he held and stepped forward. But before he could do more than take two steps away there was a little gasp beside him. He turned and saw the girl Kassy, their savior, standing with her hand over her stomach. Blood ran through her fingers as she looked up at him with wide eyes. He hadn't been fast enough. The bullet had hit her. As she began to fall he caught her. The rest of the group gasped and gathered around them.

"Give her some room!" Sylar yelled, making many of the people leap back in fear.

"Don't worry." Peter said "I'll teleport to a hospital and get supplies. I can help you!"

She shook her head quickly "There isn't time, I can tell."

This young woman had saved them all and now she was dying. But then he had an idea.

"Wait, you can take others powers, right?"

She nodded, gasping for a breath.

"Bring me Claire!" he shouted.

Ando brought Claire over and laid her beside them.

"She has the power to heal. Take her power." Peter urged.

"It takes at least five minutes for me to absorb a power." She said through her labored breath.

"Try." Peter insisted.

Kassy took Claire's hand and closed her eyes. They all waited. Peter knew that if she blacked out before getting the power she would die. Peter looked up at Sylar who was looking between the two girls with a worried expression. Peter wasn't used to seeing Sylar show such compassion. They were friends now, but he hadn't really been able to see how he interacted with people. Kassy's breathing was becoming shallower. She was obviously struggling to get air. The bullet must have hit a lung. Suddenly she gave a little gasp. Moving her hand from her stomach Peter saw the bullet wiggle its way out as her body rejected it. She sat up blinking at her now healed wound.

"Wow" she said quietly "That'll come in handy." Peter laughed and helped her to her feet.

Just then a woman came running from the house.

"What is going on here?" she asked, looking at each of the people in her yard. Her eyes stopped on Kassy who now covered in blood.

"Oh my god!" she cried, running forward.

"It's ok." Kassy smiled "I'm fine."

The woman looked at her like she was crazy.

"Everybody, this is my aunt Laura. Laura these people are special, like me."

Laura raised her eyebrows. "I see. Well I guess you should all come in." she said, motioning for them to follow her. Sylar lifted Claire and glanced at Peter. All twenty of them were going to be in a house together. This should be interesting.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sylar carried Claire up the stairs and into the house. Her head bounced lightly on his shoulder. He was beginning to worry. She had been unconscious for a long time. Going into the house he saw a living room to his left. A couch sat in the middle of the room that looked like it could seat ten people. He laid Claire onto it. Standing over her she looked so small. Like someone who needed to be protected. Peter joined him, also looking down at her.

"So, which one of you is her boyfriend?"

They both looked up sharply. Kassy was leaning against a wall examining them closely.

"I'm her uncle." Peter frowned.

"And you?" she asked him.

He glanced back at Claire. What was he to her? The monster under her bed? The evil man who had tormented her? To him she was so much more. But to her?

"I'm nothing." He replied.

Kassy raised an eyebrow. "Doubtful.

Sylar frowned at her, trying to be as dangerous looking as he could. She smirked. He shook his head and looked away. This girl either had a death wish or was far to brave for her own good.

Laura walked into the room. "So, are any of you hungry?"

There was a collective murmur of yes through the room. Laura nodded.

"Ok, well I don't have much but I have about twelve boxes of Mac n' Cheese I could make."

"Yum!" Molly cried.

"Alright." Laura laughed, "I'll get to it."

Sylar sat at the end of the couch by Claire's feet. Others sat around the living room in chairs or on the floor. Nobody wanted to sit too close to him though it seemed. Except for Emma. She sat down right beside him and gave him a comforting smile. She was the only one here that had never seen what he was. She didn't know the monster that hid just beneath the surface, just the man who had saved her.

He smiled back at her, trying look as uncreepy as he could. He didn't want to frighten off one of the only people who felt comfortable around him. He couldn't help his eyes glancing back at Claire. One arm hung from the couch and the other lay loose on her stomach. She was breathing easily and looked at peace. He wished she would wake up soon. Tracy turned to look at Kassy.

"Ok so what's going on? An hour ago we were all strapped down and being experimented on and now we are sitting in your living room. Who are you and why did you save us?"

Kassy stepped forward into the middle of the room. All eyes stared at her. She seemed to be thinking of the best way to start. He leaned forward and listened, waiting for her to lie.

"Ok well you all know my name's Kassy. I'm an empath and I can absorb abilities. For the past two years my whole mission in life has been to help other people who are special. When I heard about what had happened at the carnival I knew that it had to do with people like us. I used an ability I have to find you. The more specials that are in a certain area the stronger the pull is. From how strong the pull was coming from that building I knew it had to be where they had taken you. I planned for a few months before deciding what the best plan of action was and then I came for you."

"Yes but _why_?" Mohinder asked.

Kassy sighed. "Two years ago some guys came after me and my little brother. I didn't have all these powers like I do now and I couldn't stop them. They killed my little brother. Ever since then I have been kind of obsessed with killing them and saving our kind. I've brought others here before to help them just… not so many." She said, letting her move around the room.

Sylar leaned back surprised. She hadn't lied once. He noticed Matt relax too. Others nodded accepting her words. A few minutes later Laura came in to announce that the food was done. A little girl came in behind her. She couldn't have been older than three with long dark hair and big blues eyes. To his confusion her eyes lit up at the sight of him. She ran forward and climbed into his lap. He stared at her in shock. Several of the people in the room seemed to lean forward with nerves at the sight of him so close to a child. What did they think he was going to do? Kill this little girl? With irritation he realized that's exactly what they thought.

"Pwince charming!" she exclaimed in her high pitched voice, pointing a finger at him.

Laura laughed. "Everyone this is Rose, my daughter. I think she thinks you look like the prince from her fairy tales." She said with a smile.

Raising an eyebrow he wondered exactly what fairy tales she had been reading to her daughter. He looked back at the girl and smiled.

"And does that make you the princess?"

She nodded quickly.

"Well my lady, may I just say you are looking exquisite to day." He gave her kiss on her hand. With a squeal of joy she leapt from his lap and ran down the hall. She came back a moment later pulling another little girl behind her. Both girls looked very similar though the other looked to be about six.

"Say high to everyone Lily." said Laura.

The girl flopped her hand at them in a hello.

"Well don't just sit around! Come eat!" Laura urged. They didn't have to be told twice.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

**Non-dreams**

When Claire opened her eyes she expected to see the bright lights of the operating table. Instead soft light seemed to be coming from a window. She opened her eyes more to see she was on a soft couch. Hiro and Ando were sitting by her and Micah was lying on the floor while turning the channels of a TV seemingly with his mind. She felt her heart sink when she realized she must be dreaming. Other specials sat around the room some were talking while others were playing a board game.

"Cheerleader!" Hiro exclaimed.

She smiled sadly at him. That was always what the real Hiro called her. Others around the room had sat up and looked at her. Two men entered the room. Dream Peter playfully shoved dream Sylar. At the sight of her both men stopped. Of course Sylar would be here. He was always in her dreams and nightmares. She stood from the couch.

"Claire!" Peter exclaimed happily, running to her. Sylar followed close behind.

She wrapped her arms around him and wished it were real. Her eyes moved to Sylar. He looked different in this dream that had in real life. He looked calmer and more at ease. That hungry she had always seen was still there, but it had changed somehow. He looked more handsome in this dream. She reached out a hand and touched his chest. He froze and looked at her hand in surprise. She had never been able to get a reaction like that from him before. He was always too witty and hostile to show such emotion.

"Why do you always follow me into my dreams?" she asked.

Peter pulled back to stare at her. Sylar had raised his eyebrows in confusion.

"Clair" Peter said slowly "You aren't dreaming."

"Of course I am." She countered. She looked back at Sylar. "So is this the part of the dream where you cut my scalp off?"

There was a sharp intake of breath from around the room. A sadness entered Sylars eyes that surprised her. He reached out a hand to touch her face. She didn't pull back. He couldn't hurt her in her dreams. Not really. But I he didn't even try.

"Claire you aren't dreaming. This is real. We were rescued from that place." He said gently.

She shook her head. "No, please don't say that. Because when I wake up and everything is gone it will break my heart."

"They're telling the truth."

Claire looked at the girl who had spoken. Her dark hair hung past her chest and she had eyes that would have seemed too large on any other face, but on her they fit. Freckles were splattered across her nose and cheek bones and she had to be at least 5'11. She didn't know this girl. Reality came crashing down on Claire. She gasped, pulling her face from Sylars touch.

"What's going on? How did we get out? Where are we? What's going on!" she shouted feeling panic take over her body at how confused she was.

"I'll tell you everything." Peter said, taking her hand and leading her away. She looked over her shoulder at Sylar. He looked after here with a mix of emotions on his face. She felt revolted that she had let him touch her. Letting Peter lead her she left the room.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sylar watched Claire go. He couldn't begin to describe the sadness her words had made him feel. Of course she still had nightmares of what he had done to her. What else had he expected? For her it had only been six months since had tormented her at her college. He felt ill as he sat down on the couch. He saw Hiro slide closer to him.

"What is wrong brain man?" he asked.

"Can you please not call me that." He frowned.

He saw Ando reach out to pull Hiro away but he shook his head at his friend.

"You look sad. I have seen you angry and scared, but never sad."

Sylar let out a sigh. "I'm afraid that what you told me all those years ago is going to come true. I'm afraid that I'll die alone."

Hiro thought about that for a moment. "You cannot change the past brai- Sylar. But you can change the future."

Sylar glanced at him. "Do you think so?"

"Yes, if it is what you truly want."

Hiro walked away, leaving him alone again. Was being good what he truly wanted? Yes. He wanted to be a better man. Not just for Claire but for himself. All he had ever done was destroy his life. Sure he had power, but he was completely alone. And if he didn't change he would be alone for his very long life. He couldn't imagine that. It was his worst nightmare. He had lived it for three years before Peter had come to his rescue and saved him from his own mind. Multiply that by a million and that would be his life. Only this time Peter wouldn't be there to pull him out. Claire was his only hope.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

When Peter finished telling Claire what had happened and how they had escaped, all she could was look at him. It didn't seem real.

"So you are saying _Sylar _broke me out of my room? He _touched me_?" Claire was horrified.

"Claire listen, things have changed. He isn't the same am man as he was before."

"He'll always be the same." she argued.

"No, he isn't. I spent five years alone with him. When you spend that much one on one time with someone you get to know them better than you want to. I forgave him Claire because he truly wants to be different and is fighting for a change."

Claire shook her head, not wanting to look at him.

"He killed Nathan."

"Yes he did." Peter agreed. "But for us that was a long time ago. He doesn't kill any more. He wants to be a good man and we should help him."

"Help him?" Claire cried "Why would I help him after everything he has done?"

"Because wouldn't you rather have a good Sylar in the world rather than a deranged psycho killer?"

She thought about it. He was right. If she could do anything to stop anybody else from dying, shouldn't she do it?

"What if he isn't different?" she asked quietly. "What if he goes back to killing people again?"

"He won't." Peter said confidently. "I trust him."

Claire raised her eyebrows. "Well I don't. But I trust you. I'm not going to start giving him hugs or anything but I won't be purposely mean if he isn't."

"That's all I ask." He smiled.

She nodded and walked back to the living room. Some of the people were watching TV on the big sixty inch screen. Others were sitting around a table near the back of the room talking animatedly. She froze when she saw him. He was talking too Emma, who sat close to him and was following his mouth with her eyes. He was smiling as he talked and for once he didn't look completely evil. She narrowed her eyes at him. She wasn't just going to believe that he had changed so quickly. Claire followed Peter to stand in front of them. When Sylar noticed her he looked up and stared.

"So are you all clued in?" he asked.

"For the most part." She glared.

He looked away with an almost bashful look. Claire looked out the window and saw that it was nearly dark.

"Where's the lady that owns this house?" she asked.

"My aunt's in the kitchen."

They all looked up at the girl Peter had said was named Kassy. Claire examined her with interest. She had long dark hair that hung nearly to her waist, but it wasnt dead and stinging like some peoples hair when it got too long. It was soft and wavy. She was very tall, nearly six feet it seemed. Despite her height however many of her facial feature were small. She had tiny ears that you could only see if she moved all of her hair to one side. Her lips and nose were both small, yet not too small to look off on her face. But her _eyes_. They were most definitely not small. They were large and round and dark. The deep brown flecked with gold was a lovely color and it made her eyes seem alive. Claire realized with embarrassment that she was staring openly at the girl.

"Well I just wanted to thank her for letting us stay here." Claire explained.

"If you are going to thank any one it should be Kassy." Peter informed.

"I don't need to be thanked." Kassy said, shaking her head.

"Of course you do. Who else would risk their life to save people they don't even know?"

"You." Kassy offered.

Peter opened his mouth to protest but Claire put a hand on his chest to stop him.

"Well, thank you anyways." Claire smiled before walking past them to the kitchen. She found Laura standing in front a long marble counter wrapping some food up. She looked to be in her early thirties with short blonde hair and blues eyes. Small wrinkles had formed near her eyes due to smiling too much. She smiled when she saw her.

"Finally you are awake."

"Yeah Peter just filled me in on what's happened."

"Good. I was worried that man was going to bite his nails off worrying about you."

Claire assumed she meant Peter.

"Yeah well nothing can really hurt me, so there was no need to worry." Claire explained.

Laura nodded. "Peter told me what you can do. Maybe you can't be hurt physically but emotionally I'm sure you can still hurt."

Claire just shrugged, wanting to change the subject. "So how do you fit into all this? What made you want to open your home to people like us?"

"Well it wasn't really my decision. Kassy showed up on my door step about a year ago and showed me what she could do. I was surprised at first and a little scared, but she is my family, and I'm all she really has left. I couldn't abandon her."

Claire nodded, understanding.

"When she told me what happened to her little brother I cried for days. I had lost my husband a year earlier and I couldn't cope with losing another member of my family. Kassy's mother, Tara, was my older sister. I was only twelve when Kassy was born and my sister was nineteen. Kassy's father was never in the picture so they lived with us for five years before Tara ran away with Kassy and handsome man she met at work. It wasn't until three years later that she showed up with a little baby and Kassy, who by that point was eight."

"What was her brother's name?" Claire wondered.

"Andrew. He was sweet little boy, so full of life and happiness. When Kassy was fifteen and Andrew was seven Tara moved them all to Nevada. Tara died two years later. I looked everywhere for Kassy and Andrew but I couldn't find them. It wasn't until last year that I found out everything that had happened."

"And what exactly happened?" Claire asked.

Laura sighed. "I think that's something you should ask Kassy. It isn't my business telling people things she may not want anyone to know."

Claire nodded "Well thank you. You didn't need to help us."

"It's really no problem. I have nothing better to do and it feels good helping people in need. I can't imagine what I would do if anybody tried to take Kassy from me. Besides, after my husband died he left me more money than I know what to do with and my daughters like meeting people like Kassy."

"You have daughters?"

"Yes, Lily is six and Rose is three. I think they are playing in their playroom right now."

"Oh could I maybe say hi to them?"

"They would love that." Laura beamed.

Claire followed her directions and found the room after only a minute of searching. Two little girls sat in the middle of a large circular room. They were both dressed like princesses and were waving fairy wands around in the air. The older one was yelling at younger one.

"You have to be the bad fairy Rose! We can't both be good!"

"No, I'm good!"

"But that's not fun!"

Rose noticed Claire and smiled. "Sleeping beauty!"

Both girls ran to the door.

"Did the prince kiss you and wake you up?" Lily asked.

"The prince?" Claire asked.

"Yes, the scary one." Lily giggled.

"Not scary, nice!" exclaimed Rose.

The scary prince? "Do you mean Sylar?"

"Prince Sylar!" Rose exclaimed.

Claire frowned. Why, out of all of the other men in the house, would they think Sylar was a prince? She supposed they were children and didn't know any better.

"My names Claire."

"Princess Claire!" Rose corrected gleefully.

"I suppose I can be a princess." Claire smiled.

"Do you want to play?" Lily asked.

Claire smiled. "Absolutely."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

**New Leaf**

Peter watched Emma as she played the piano. When Emma had seen that Laura owned a piano she had been thrilled. She now sat before it and played while everybody else sat watching, mesmerized. He supposed that was her power. She was looking into the air as she played and smiling with that small smile she had when she watched sound turn into color. He knew that it wasn't the music that made him stare. Ever since he had first met her he had felt something pulling him to her. She was kind and beautiful and smart. There was nothing he didn't like about her.

He wanted to tell her how he felt, but he was worried she would reject him. It was difficult for him to get a reading on her. She was nice to everybody so he couldn't be sure if her behavior to him was any different. He could always take Matts power and look inside her head, but that was an invasion of her privacy and it was cheating. He would just have to wait.

He noticed Sylar leaning against a wall and watching. He was smiling in a calm way that made Peter feel happy. He could no longer see the deranged killer that he hated. All that was there now was his friend. He wasn't oblivious to way he looked at Claire either. He was like a man that had been trapped in a dark tunnel for a long time and could finally see the light at the end. It was a face full of hope. Sylar noticed Peter staring and smiled back, before looking back to Emma. He also looked at Emma differently than he looked at the rest. She was the only person that he had actually saved. Peter knew Sylar felt proud of himself.

Claire was sitting on the floor with Lily and Rose. Both girls seemed to have taken to her. Claire looked peaceful with Rose in her lap and Lily leaning against her. Someday Claire would be a good mother. Peter couldn't help his eyes glancing back to Sylar. He knew what Sylar wanted. He just wasn't sure if Claire would ever be able to get over her hatred. For Sylars mental sake, he hoped she would.

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As Emma stopped playing Laura came into the room.

"I assume you are all tired. There are six guest bedrooms and each bed can hold two people, so you can pair off. Also the couch turns into a bed and it can hold three people. I will pull out some air mattresses for anybody who wants those."

Everybody murmured their thanks. Sylar looked around the room as people decided where they would sleep. Tracy, Micah, and Molly would sleep on the couch. Everybody else seemed to be awkwardly be asking another if they wanted to share a bed. He saw Peter glance at Emma awkwardly. Wanting to do something good for them he approached Emma.

"Emma, I think since you know Peter best out of everybody here you two should share. He's just too shy to ask." He said as innocently as he could

Emma blushed and looked over at Peter.

"Really?" she asked, looking shy.

Sylar nodded confidently.

She smiled. "Ok."

He watched as she walked over to him. The delight on his face was obvious.

"That was nice of you."

He spun around to see Claire standing behind him. She looked both impressed and suspicious. Her arms were crossed over her chest in a defensive manner as though she thought he was going to say something harsh back. He just smiled.

"Yeah, well everybody here except Emma can see how in love with her he is. I just thought I could give them a shove in the right direction."

"Mh-hmm." She agreed quietly, glancing over at them.

"Who are you sharing with?" he asked casually.

He eyes shot back to him and she frowned. "I don't know. Everybody else seems to have pared off."

He nodded awkwardly. Kassy approached them.

"There's one room left. It just has a single bed and a couch. You two could share it."

Claire looked horrified and opened her mouth to protest but before she could Peter spoke up.

"That's a great idea! Isn't it Claire?"

She spun around and glared at him mutinously. He gave her a look that to Sylar said _'Play nice'. _She glared at him a moment longer before sighing.

"Fine."

Sylars heart nearly leapt into his throat with joy. He could have kissed Peter. He would be able to be near her and it would give a chance to show her how he had changed.

He shrugged as nonchalantly as he could. "Ok, that's fine."

Kassy led Claire away to show her the room. Sylar could feel the embarrassingly goofy grin slide across his face. Peter patted him on the back.

"Just so you know, if you touch her without her permission, I'll have to kill you."

"Firstly, I won't touch her. Secondly, you couldn't if you tried." Sylar smirked.

Peter just shook his head and walked away.

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When Claire finished brushing her hair and rubbing toothpaste around her mouth, she walked back to the room. She was furious at Peter for encouraging her to share a room with Sylar. She had agreed to be nice, not to be his roommate. But she had made Peter a promise and she was going to try sticking to it. She was still wearing the white shirt and pants from the lab they had escaped from. When she walked into the room she froze. Sylar was stretched out on the couch shirtless. His hands were behind his head and he glanced up when she entered. She hadn't ever seen him shirtless before and it made heart beat faster.

She yanked her eyes away from him and walked to the bed. He raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything. She lay down and tried to get comfortable. She didn't want to lay with her back to him but she also didn't want to stare at him. She settled with lying on her back.

"Claire?"

She cringed at his voice. It still frightened her when it came from the dark like that.

"Yes?" she asked tightly.

"Are you frightened of me?"

She thought about that for a moment. When she closed her eyes she could still see him cutting open her head. She should lie and tell him no, try to sound strong. But she had learned from experience that he didn't like lies.

"Yes."

He sighed. ""I'm sorry."

She rolled over and looked at him. "After everything you've done you will have to be more specific."

"I'm sorry for scaring you." He clarified.

"Are you sorry for killing Nathan?"

Sylar considered it. "No. He was trying to kill me and he was a bad man. He imprisoned all of you in his own selfish battle for power. He was hypocritical and over all very stupid. Who knows what he would have done next?"

"He was my father!" Claire exclaimed angrily.

"Just because he helped create you doesn't make him your father. I should know about that better than anyone." Sylar said bitterly.

Claire sighed and lay back in her bed. At least she could count on him being honest. When she thought about it, everything he said was true. She had forgiven Nathan all of the horrible things he did just because he was blood.

"Could you ever forgive you father?" she asked him quietly.

He laughed bitterly. It wasn't a pleasant sound. "Claire he killed my mother and sold me for money. Despite everything Nathan did, my father was much worse."

She didn't want too, she _really _didn't want too, but she felt sorry for him. It didn't excuse everything he had done but it at least gave some explanation. Irrationally, it irritated her that Sylar didn't just wake up one day and decided to be a serial killer. All of the events of his life had led up to it. It was easier to hate him when he was just evil in a body.

"Please" he said suddenly "don't pity me. I can tell that's what you are thinking and just don't. I hate when people pity me."

She glared at him "You should be glad I'm feeling anything other than hatred."

He thought about that for a moment. "I guess it's a start."

"Why are you doing this? Why are you pretending to be different?"

He rolled on to his side so that he could look at her. "I'm not pretending."

"Oh come on. People don't just go to sleep one day a psycho and wake up the next a completely normal human being."

"Ok well firstly, I didn't just wake up one day changed. I spent eight years in my own personal nightmare. For three years I was completely alone, until Peter came along. And then I spent another five with him. We fought all the time, but it helped me. He showed me that being a good person doesn't make you weak. I also realized that if I didn't change I would be alone forever." He took a deep breath. "And secondly, if you think I'm normal even now you are slightly out of your mind."

Claire couldn't help but let out a small laugh at the last part. Wanting to end their conversation on a good note, for the first time ever, she rolled over.

"Well I'm tired. Goodnight."

"Goodnight." He said softly.

Laying with her back to him she thought perhaps he was changing after all.

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Sylar stayed up for a long time after Claire fell asleep. He listened to the soft sound of her breath and thought it was perhaps the loveliest sound he had ever heard. Tonight had been the first time she had ever had a willing conversation with him. She hadn't tried to stab him or threaten him even once. Although, not holding her against her will had probably help.

He wanted to have a million more conversations with her. All he had to do was not kill anybody she cared about. He hoped that wouldn't be too hard. After a while, he drifted into sleep.

When he woke up the next morning light was coming in through the window. He rolled over to see that Claire wasn't in her bed. Standing up he looked around for his shirt. It wasn't where he left it. Frowning, he looked around. It wasn't there. He walked out of the room and down the hall. He could smell food cooking down stairs. When he walked into the kitchen several people looked up at him.

"Um, why aren't you wearing a shirt?" Matt asked.

"Hadn't you heard Matt? It's my new tactical skill for world domination. I'm going to woo the world into submission with my dashingly good looks and great abs." he replied sarcastically.

Matt glared at him, but he was rewarded with Claire trying to hide her smile behind her toast.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Laura exclaimed. "I saw it on the floor this morning and put it in the wash. I'll be sure to give back to you."

"Thanks, but it's not like we can wear these clothes forever. If we go into public dressed like this we will look like a bunch of escaped metal patients." He said as he scooped eggs onto a plate.

"I wasn't aware that that's not what you are." He heard Mohinder mumble. Sylar smirked.

"I can give you all some money today so you can buy some clothes. There are some nice shops in town." Laura said with a smile.

"We can't take your money." Tracy argued. "You have already done so much for us."

"It's not a problem." Laura assured them. "I have more than enough money and like Sylar said, you can't keep wearing that outfit."

"I think I'll be ok on money." Sylar said, lifting the spatula and turning it to gold. Several people gasped and leaned in closer. Trust something shiny and expensive to lure them in. It worked on most people.

"Well, for everybody who can't turn kitchen utensils into gold, I'll give you some money." Laura laughed.

"Oh, is it my birthday already?" Kassy asked as she entered the room, looking Sylar up and down with a wicked glint to her eye. He suddenly felt uncomfortable in his half nakedness. It irritated him that she could do that.

"Where have you been?" Laura asked.

"Well while you were all getting your beauty sleep, I was getting answers. I needed to find out more about the people that took you."

"What did you find?" Peter asked, leaning forward.

"Well they definitely aren't the government. They are funded by a few very wealthy people who all seem to be in some way linked to specials. But they're just the money supply. The real brain of the operation is this guy." She said, dropping a photo onto the counter.

All of the specials leaned forward to examine it. Sylar stepped forward and froze at the image. It wasn't possible.

"Who is he?" Claire asked.

"I don't know." Kassy said shaking her head.

"I do." He said quietly.

Everybody looked up in surprise.

"What, did you try to kill him too?" Matt asked.

"I guess you can say that. He's my father."


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey guys thanks for the views so far! Let me know what you like and what you want to see more of! Your feedback is the only way I get paid! It is currently rated T but it may change to M in the is going to be a pretty long thing so thanks for going along for the ride! **

**Chapter 6**

**Back from the Dead**

There was a long stretched out silence. Several people seemed to have stopped breathing while they stared at him. After several minutes Claire broke the silence.

"_Your father_? You said he was dead!"

"No, I said he was dying. And he was the last time I saw him. He had cancer and he was slowly rotting away in his crappy old house all alone."

"Well he isn't dying now." Kassy frowned. "He looked completely healthy walking out of that building. Hey, where did Laura go?"

"Oh I think she went to wake up Rose and Lily just after you came in." Tracy supplied.

Nodding Kassy snatched up the picture. "I think I need to do some more research."

"Sylar, why would your father be hunting us?" Mohinder asked.

"Well let's see. He's a psycho who loves to collect abilities, he has no morals, and the last time I saw him I left him to rot away. I think he might be holding a small grudge."

"A psycho with no morals? So he's you?" Matt quipped.

"No Matt, he's much worse." Sylar said darkly.

"How could he possibly be worse?" Tracy frowned.

Sylar felt a rage boil inside him, one he could hardly suppress. As he slammed his fist on the table small sparks of electricity jumped from his hands.

"I would never sell my own child for a few bucks and then kill his mother in front of him! And stop looking at me like that!" he shouted.

Several people jumped back at his outburst at thought they thought he was about to start cutting skulls. Everybody but Claire moved away from him. She reached out to his hand which still had electricity running over it. She seemed to have forgotten that she could now feel pain so when she touched him she gave a small cry. His fury was gone instantly and was now replaced with shame.

"Claire I'm sorry!"

"It's fine; I'm the one who touched you. The burns are already gone anyways." She said, showing him her hand.

He quickly shook his head and ran from the room.

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After Sylar stormed out of the room Claire was left feeling a little stupid. Why had she touched him? She had forgotten that she could feel pain, so that was part of it. It was just so that he didn't hurt anybody else she told herself. It had nothing to do with her suddenly feeling sorry for him as Mohinder and Matt made jabs at him.

"Ok, well here is some money for you guys." Kassy said as she handed out a few twenties to each person. Claire felt bad taking the money but she really did need her own toothbrush.

"Isn't it dangerous to go into town if we are being hunted?" Peter asked.

Kassy shook her head. "Like I said, they aren't the government. They don't even have the law enforcement on their side. It was really just luck and planning that they were able to catch you all the first time around. You should all be fine."

Peter nodded. "Ok, well I still don't think it's a good idea for twenty people dressed in white suddenly appear in the local shops."

""You can use some of my husband's old clothes. I kept them after died and he was about the same size as you Peter." Laura said. She had just come from waking Lily and Rose. Both girls stumbled in after her with crazy disheveled hair.

"And what about those of us that aren't Peters size?" Matt asked, looking down at himself.

"I think I have a few shirts that were too big for him. You can just wear one of those over the pants you currently have on."

"Are you sure you don't mind us wearing your husband's things?" Peter asked.

"They're just gathering dust where they are right now. You can return them once you've bought your own stuff."

Kassy skipped over to Claire and hooked her arm threw her own.

"Come on, you can borrow some of my clothes." Kassy beamed.

Claire looked at her in surprise. She didn't even know this girl and she was acting like they were best friends. She dragged her away and up the stairs. Claire wasn't sure what she expected of the Kassy's room. Maybe rock band posters covering the walls and a hammock for a bed. Instead it was rather simple. A queen size bed sat in the middle of the room with dark blue sheet. The walls were painted a light blue, almost the color of the sky. A blue desk and chair also sat in the corner. It was bizarre.

"So, you like blue huh?"

"It was Andrews's favorite color." She said with casually with a shrug.

_Oh_. Claire sat on the bed while Kassy dug through her closet.

"You realize you are nearly ten inches taller than me. You aren't going to have anything that fits me."

A moment later Kassy threw something red at her. She caught it and held it up.

"That's a mid-drift on me so I figure it'll fit you just fine." She explained.

Turning her back to Kassy she pulled it on. She was right, it did fit.

"And I wore these when I was fourteen and much shorter." She said as she held out a pair of shorts.

Claire pulled those on as well. They were a little loose but they would do. She turned back and looked at Kassy. She had sprawled herself on her bed and was leaning with her in chin on her fists and her feet straight up in the air.

"Something about you is so familiar." Claire said tilting her head.

"Really? Do you know many super powered six foot tall women with obsessive personalities?"

Claire laughed and shook her head. "No, I just can't place it."

Kassy was suddenly looking at her with an intensity that made her feel uncomfortable. She had her eyes squinted and it almost looked like she was trying to see_ through_ her.

"Why are you staring at me?"

"I'm trying to see what he sees." She said, not blinking.

Claire frowned. "What who sees?"

Rather than answering she just tilted her head.

"Right, well I'm going to go see if Peter and Hiro are ready to take us." She said awkwardly.

When Kassy didn't say anything she stepped quickly through door and closed it behind her. Once she couldn't see the other girl any more she took a deep breath. Kassy really was strange. As she was walking back to stairs she stopped in front of her open door. Sylar was standing with his back to her and his arms crossed over his chest. She considered just ignoring him, but decided to clear up what had happened in the kitchen.

"Sylar?" she asked, quietly stepping into the room. It took several seconds for him to face her. When he did his eyes kept slipping past her as though he was having trouble focusing.

"Sylar." She said with more force.

"What Claire? What do you want?" His voice was almost a growl.

"Look, it was stupid of me to touch you when you were angry like that. I knew what was going to happen with I touched the electricity."

He looked at her as though she was insane. "So because you touched me it's your fault? No, I'm the one that lost control. I can't do that, because when I do I can feel it. I can feel how it wants to claw its way to the surface, and if I ever let it it'll never let me go. I will be gone once more and the hunger will have control of me." He grasped his hair and looked at her desperately.

It unnerved her to see him like this. All of the other times she had known him he had been completely in control of himself. Always so sure that what he wanted was right and that it was in his power to take it. Now he looked lost. She didn't know what to say. How can you comfort a monster?

"We all lose control sometimes." She said with sigh.

"Yes, well when you lose control I doubt it ends with entire rooms of people being dead." He said darkly.

Claire took a deep breath. "Well, some of us are going into town to do some shopping. Do you want to come?"

He shook his head and turned back to the window, which looked out over the large lake behind the house. "I just need to be alone for now."

Claire nodded as she backed out of the room. What was she doing rooming with a psychopath?

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Peter walked beside Emma in the bright afternoon sunlight. She was wearing a blue sundress that Laura had lent her. She looked beautiful. They walked past several small shops, all advertising their goods. The rest of their group had wandered off to the different shops and he was grateful to be left alone with her.

"Let's go in here." She said, pulling him into a little shop that sold clothing. He had never been shopping with a woman before. Not even his mother. Emma walked past each rack of clothes, choosing things she wanted to try on. Peter saw a section for men and went to it. He chose a few shirts and two pairs of jeans in his size. He went back to Emma and showed her.

"Aren't you going to try them on?" she asked.

"Why? They're my size and they look fine." He shrugged.

Emma rolled her eyes and smiled as she went into the dressing room. Peter sat in a chair and waited for her. He thought about the previous night.

Peter had been so anxious and full of energy when he entered to room he had been sure Emma would see. But when he walked in she had already climbed beneath the covers of the king sized bed and was lying as far from his side as she could. He had felt stupidly disappointed that she had gone to such measures to lie as far from him as she could. Going to his side he had done the same, not wanting to make her uncomfortable. It took several hours for him to fall asleep.

He awoke sometime in the early morning and the sun had just begun to rise. At some point in the night he had rolled to the middle of the bed. Looking to right he found Emma's face only five inches from his. He had gasped at the closeness and leaned back. But seeing that she was sound asleep he relaxed. She was lying on her stomach with her hands under her pillow. She looked at peace.

Leaning up on his elbow he had stared at her. Her dark blonde hair was thrown messily over her face and her eyes moved slightly under her eye lids. He could get use to waking up like this. Realizing that he was being a creeper he laid back down. He couldn't help the smile that pulled at his lips.

Emma came back out of the dressing room and held up her selections.

"Ready to check out?" she asked.

Peter nodded. "I'm ready."

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When Sylar was sure that everybody had left he went down stairs. He might as well take a look at the rest of the house. He stood at the bottom of the stairs and looked around. To his left was the living room and to the right was the kitchen and in between was a hallway. He walked down the hallway and looked into rooms as he went. The first was a laundry room and beyond that was a bathroom. The next on was a guest bedroom. He stopped at the fourth door. Kassy was sitting with back to him and had her hand on a computer. Images were flashing quickly across the screen.

"It's impolite to stare." She said in bored tone, not looking at him.

He frowned. "I never claimed to be polite."

"That's true, but it is common courtesy."

Sylar stepped further into the room and stood behind her. Most people didn't like having their backs to him, but she didn't seem to mind.

"You obviously don't know anything about me." He said in a dangerous growl.

She glanced back at him now and smiled. "Oh, I think I know you well enough. From what the others have told me and what I've gathered off the internet I have a metal map of you drawn out."

"Is that so?" he asked, glaring.

"Yes. You were a killer for several years. You took what you wanted and you didn't let anything get in your way. You fought several of the people that are staying with us, especially Peter. You hunted and tormented Claire and you took her ability. You hurt her in ways that you don't know how to fix. But you and Peter spent a lot of one on one time together and now you are different. You aren't a killer anymore, or at least you don't want to be. Oh, and you have major thing for Claire."

She had said this all while looking at the computer screen, but now she spun around and looked at him. She raised her eyebrows as though challenging him to say she was wrong. When Sylar realized everything she said was true he sat down in a chair across from her.

"Is that a power you have or something? Reading people?"

"Just a natural one." She winked.

Sylar let himself really look at her. With her thin sharp nose, high cheek bones, and large eyes she looked almost predatory. She was beautiful, but not the way that made you want to take a closer look. Like perhaps if you got too close you would be stung and immediately die.

"How old are you?" he asked, tilting his head.

"Twenty one. And you?"

"Thirty three.

She nodded, looking him up and down "You think you are terrifying, don't you?"

"That's because I am." He smirked.

Kassy shrugged. "Maybe to people who don't understand you."

"And _you _understands me?" he asked with raised eyebrows.

"Yes." She smiled.

He rolled his eyes and looked away, wanting to change the subject. "So I see you took Micah's power."

"Borrowed it." She nodded.

"Borrowed it? What do you mean?" he frowned.

"I can only hold ten powers at a time. So when I want to take a new power I have to think about one that I don't want anymore and it replaces it. I have a few powers that I'll keep but the others are exchangeable."

"Which ones will you keep?" he wondered.

"Well Claire's obviously, telekinesis, I'd like to get Matts and Hiro's powers. Maybe some others." she shrugged.

"Is that why you helped us? To get new abilities?"

Kassy laughed. It was a pleasant sound. "No. I mean sure it a plus but that's not why I do it."

"Then _why_? I know you told us about your brother, but that can't be all there is too it." He said, leaning forward.

"Some people obsess over conspiracies, some people obsess over collecting abilities" she gave him a wicked smile "and I obsess over helping people like us."

Sylar leaned back and sighed. "Well I guess your obsession is healthier than most."

Kassy turned to look out the window, seeming to get lost in her thoughts.

"Is it?"

*********** Don't forget to leave me your comments! They are much appreciated! ********* **


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

**Broken**

When Claire got back from shopping she felt worn out. It was still early in the day and there was no reason to feel tired, she just did. Going to her room she thought maybe Sylar had gone somewhere else for a while. But when she opened her door, there he was, sprawled across the couch. His eyes were closed and she thought he was asleep. Going to her bed she laid her purchases out. She had gotten three shirts and two pairs of pants. She laid the hairbrush and toothbrush out and dropped the sandals she had bought on the floor. Lifting one of the shirts she held it to herself and looked it the mirror that hung on the wall. She turned to put it back on the bed and her heart nearly stopped. Sylar was staring at her.

"Don't do that." She said angrily.

"Do what?" he asked, sitting up.

"Stare at me."

"How else am I supposed to look at you Claire?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Just don't." she frowned, turning away from him.

He rolled his eyes and put his hands behind his head. Claire walked to her bag pulled something blue out of it. She tossed it to him and he caught it in the air. He held it up and saw that it was a plain blue cotton shirt.

"You didn't come with us, and you can't just keep wearing that same outfit." She shrugged, trying to not feel awkward. He gave her a strange look.

"What?"

"Nothing. It's just that nobody but my mother has ever given me a gift before."

She raised her eyebrows. "Never? What about for birthdays?"

"Well I didn't exactly have friends to invite to parties and my mom didn't like having guests over."

Claire glanced at him. He was staring at the shirt and rubbing his thumb over the material, deep in thought.

"Look, it doesn't have to be a gift if it makes you uncomfortable. You can pay me back if you want."

The corner of his mouth quirked up. "I don't mind it being a gift."

Claire nodded and walked out of the room, ending the conversation.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Peter sat at the kitchen table beside Emma and across from Kassy and Matt. Kassy was painting her finger nails a bright orange and her tongue was sticking out the side of her mouth in concentration.

"So Kassy, tell us about yourself." said Matt who was watching the slow process of her nails.

"Not much to tell." Kassy shrugged. "You all know most of the stuff about me. My mom was Tara, Laura's sister. My dad was some Mexican guy she met in high school. He left pretty quickly after she got pregnant. I had a brother who died named Andrew and I save people."

"Well yeah but tell us something else. Like what kind of hobbies do you have?"

Kassy thought about it. "Well I like to swim in the lake and I like to read to Lily and Rose."

"That's great." Matt smiled.

"I don't see why you couldn't have just read my thoughts and found that out."

"Oh, um well I figured it was just nice to ask." said Matt, looking uncomfortable.

Kassy shrugged and raised her eyebrows. "Whatever you say."

Peter laughed. There was something so likable about her strangeness. Just then Claire came into the room.

"Hey Peter can we talk?" she asked.

"Yeah sure." He said, leading her to the hall.

"I was going to ask you before but there was too much going on. Could you contact my dad? I want him to know I'm ok."

Peter suddenly felt as though his heart had dropped into his stomach.

"Claire, I was going to tell you tonight."

"Tell me what?" Claire frowned.

"I already asked Molly to look for him."

"Oh, well where is he?"

"Claire, she couldn't find him."

She stared at him, not comprehending. "How could she not find him? She can find anybody."

"Anybody alive, Claire."

Her eyes widened, understanding showing on her face.

"No. No, that's not possible. He's my father, I would know if he died." She was shaking her head back and forth quickly.

"Claire." He said, reaching out to her.

"Don't touch me!" she screamed. She ran out the front door and slammed it behind her.

"Peter what's going on?"

Peter turned and saw Sylar walking down the stairs.

"I just had to tell Claire her dad is dead."

Sylar frowned "He is?"

"Yeah."

"I'll go talk to her." Sylar offered.

"That might not be the best idea. She's angry and devastated."

Sylar waved him off and walked out the door. Peter just shook his head. Why did nobody listen to him?

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sylar saw Claire several feet in front of him. She was sitting in the mud on the edge of the lake. Her feet were in the water and she was staring into the distance.

"Claire?"

"Go away." She said not turning.

"Claire you can talk to me." He urged.

When she didn't say anything he walked closer.

"Are you alright?"

Slowly she turned to look at him. "Am I alright? Am I alright?" she shouted, now standing up.

"How could I possibly be alright? My father is dead! He's gone and I never even knew about it! And you have the nerve to ask me if I'm alright? You of all people?" she was screaming, now only inches from his face. He remained completely still.

"You killed my biological father and you aren't even sorry about it! So don't stand there looking like you actually care! You don't care about anything but yourself!" she punched his chest.

"You killed my biological mom too! You tried to make me choose because you are sick! You have taken so much from me! And now I have lost my dad! He may have been flawed but he was everything to me!"

At this point she began to beat her fist on his chest. He let her throw all of her aggression at him. She punched and hit and clawed for several minutes. But after about six minutes she seemed to lose all of her energy. Sobbing she fell forward. He caught her. She tried to pull away but he wouldn't let her go.

"Let go of me!" she screamed.

"No." he replied calmly.

"Let go now!"

"No."

She broke down and lost all of her fight. She leaned forward so her forehead was resting on his chest. She cried for a long time and he just held her there. Under different circumstances he may have been happy about her standing so close. But he couldn't get any joy from seeing Claire like this. The invincible girl had broken.

Slowly he bent so that they were sitting in the grass. Claire continued to cry, occasionally punching him. He was fine with that. She needed to let the aggression out. After what seemed like hours the crying stopped. When Sylar looked down at her he frowned. She looked… numb.

"How can he be dead?" she asked in an emotionless tone.

"Sometimes they just are."

"You'd know a lot about that huh?" she said, emoting seeping back into her voice.

"Yes." He replied honestly. "I've seen a lot of death. I've been the cause of all of it. I used to relish in it but now it just seems so empty."

"Yes, that's the word for it." She agreed. "Empty."

"I am truly sorry for this pain you are feeling Claire."

She shook her head but didn't say anything. After a while she stopped moving. Looking down he realized she had cried herself to sleep. He lifted her as gently as he could, partially using his telekinetic power. When he opened the front door he saw that everybody had else had gone to sleep. They had been out there longer than he had thought. Going up stairs he laid her in her bed. Even as she slept her brow was furrowed in a frown. Reaching out he rubbed a thumb over it, trying to smooth it. He wanted to stop the pain she was feeling. He couldn't change what he had done in the past, but he would do whatever her could to make her future brighter. Starting with tomorrow.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

When Claire opened her eyes she felt ok for a moment. Then she remembered what had happened last night. She wanted to retract into her blankets and not come out. Looking around she saw a bowl of fruit sitting on the little night stand. Peter or Emma must have left it there for her. She didn't even realize she was hungry until her stomach growled. She hadn't eaten since the previous morning. It didn't feel right for her to be hungry when her dad was dead. But her body had basic functions and desires and she couldn't just ignore them. Pulling herself into a sitting position she put the bowl of fruit in her lap. It looked like it had just recently been set out. As she began to eat she heard a pair of footsteps coming up the stair. Turning she saw Sylar walk into the room.

He was wearing the blue shirt she had given him and a pair of jeans that looked like there were just a little too tight. He had laced up brown work boots and it looked like he had cut his hair. It was now only about three inches long and combed back. He looked… good.

"You're awake." He smiled, actually managing to not look creepy.

Claire rolled her eyes. "Well aren't you observant."

"Come on, get up." He urged.

"No I'm staying in bed today." Claire frowned, trying to wiggle further into her blankets.

"Oh no you aren't. We're going out?"

"Out? Who's 'we'?"

"You and I." he said with confidence.

"I'm not going anywhere with you." She glared.

He raised his eyebrows and she realized he must have taken that as a challenge. Grabbing her arm he used both his strength and his ability to pull her from her bed. She let out a loud sound of protest.

"Sylar, why can' you just leave me alone?"

"Because that's not what's best for you." He shrugged.

"How do you know what's best for me?"

He stopped and looked at her now. "Claire, everybody else in this house is just going to 'give you space'. But what that really means is that they aren't comfortable with your grief. They want to do what's easy and so do you. You just want to lie here and mope and cry and make yourself feel even worse than you already do. But I'm not going to let you. I've caused you enough pain in your past and I don't want you to have to feel it now in the present."

Claire stared at him with her mouth slightly agape.

"You can't keep me from pain forever." She said quietly.

"Well I can sure as hell give it a good fight. Now go take a shower and get ready. I'll be waiting downstairs."

With that he spun and marched down the hall. Claire stared after him as disappeared. Why the hell was Sylar of all people coming to her rescue? It didn't make any sense. She looked down at herself and gasped. Her legs and feet were covered in mud from the lake. She was still in her clothes from yesterday. She looked around. How had she even gotten in bed?

Going to the bathroom she looked at herself in the mirror. Her hair was crazy and tangled and she had mud on her face. She looked like a wild woman. Turning the shower on, she let the hot water rush over her skin. It felt good. She scrubbed her feet and her face until she was sure they were clean. She then began to work on her hair. It was nearly an hour later when she went downstairs.

The house was quieter than usual. She found Sylar sitting on the couch. He jumped up when he saw her.

"Where is everybody?" she asked.

"They're outside. They wanted to go for a swim in the lake."

"Is that what we are doing?" she wondered. If so she was irritated that he had made her take a shower.

"Nope." He smiled, walking to the door. He jingled a set of keys. "Laura's letting us use her car."

Going around the house Claire saw a black SUV sitting in the driveway. Sylar opened the driver side door and climbed in.

"I'm not getting in a car with you." She frowned.

Sylar rolled his eyes. "Claire, get in the car."

"No."

_"Please_"? He asked, sounding almost desperate.

Claire decided that is was really no use fighting him. She slid into the passenger seat and crossed her arms. He smiled to himself, seeming pleased.

"So where are we going?"

"That's for me to know and you to find out." He smirked.

She rolled her eyes at the cliché. "I think I liked you better when were all doom and gloom. This chipper side of you is weird."

"Well I could always go back to being a little bad." He said allowing his voice to deepen, and looking at her with a devilish grin.

"Ok, never mind." Claire fidgeted, feeling uncomfortable.

Sylar shook his head. "Never pleased are you?"

"So how long will we be driving exactly?"

"Not long, about an hour." Sylar shrugged.

An hour? She was going to be stuck in a car all alone with him for an hour? Great.

"I can't believe I let you talk me into this."

"I can."

"And why's that?"

"Because despite what you say, you want to be happy. It's all you've really wanted and each time you come close it gets ripped away from you. Yet you still yearn for it. That's why you got in the car."

Claire didn't say anything for a long time. She hated that he knew her. And he truly did. After about ten minutes she spoke again.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Shoot."

"Why do you still go by Sylar?"

He frowned. "What?"

"You claim to be different now, to not be a killer. But you're still going by the name you chose to kill under."

He didn't look at her and continued driving. After nearly a full minute Claire decided he wasn't going to answer her.

"It's because I'm not Gabriel either."

She looked at him.

"Gabriel was a quiet, weak, unnoticeable nobody. Gabriel got bullied every day at school and came home crying with a black eye twice a weak. Gabriel didn't talk to girls because he didn't understand them and they were just too scary. Gabriel did everything his mother told him to do because he was a good boy. That's not me anymore."

Claire couldn't take her eyes off him. He said it with such passion that she almost believed he was talking about someone else. She couldn't imagine Sylar being that person.

"I mean, I could always get a new name, but that would just be confusing." He said, shaking his head.

Claire laughed. "Yeah I guess it would be."

Sylar looked her and raised his eyebrows when she laughed, as though surprised. He turned his eyes back to the road. Glancing at Sylar out of the corner of her eye Claire couldn't help but smile at the thought of Gabriel.

*********Don't forget to leave you comments! Thanks so much!********


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey guys, this chapter is rated M for some violence. Don't forget to let me know what you think and what you want to see more of! **

**Chapter 8**

**Slip Up**

True to his word they reached their destination after an hour. Claire looked out the window and frowned.

"A lake side pier? Really?"

"People have fun at piers." Sylar said confidently.

"Have you ever been to one?"

"Well not recreationally. But it seems like a good place to get your mind off your worries."

Claire rolled her eyes and leaned back in her seat.

"Whatever you say."

Sylar glanced at Claire. She looked like she was actively trying to not enjoy herself. He shook his head. She was going to have fun today whether she wanted to or not. They got out of the car and he led her up to the shops. To be honest, now that they were here he didn't know what to do. How do you show a girl a good time?

"Ice cream!" he exclaimed.

She looked at him like he had lost his mind. "What?"

"Let's get ice cream."

He pulled her over to a booth that had a picture of an ice cream cone painted on it. The man behind the counter beamed at him.

"What flavor can I get you?"

Sylar looked at Claire with raised eye brows.

"Um, Vanilla." She said hesitantly.

"One Vanilla and one rocky road." Sylar told the man.

They ate their ice cream and walked side by side.

"This is weird." Claire remarked.

"What is?"

"Sylar just bought me ice cream."

He smiled. "Bad guys like ice cream too."

Claire laughed. "I can't imagine you eating ice cream before."

"Oh yeah, I enjoyed a good double scoop every once in a while."

"After you'd kill someone?"

Sylar looked at her to see if she was angry, but she looked genuinely curious.

"Sometimes." He nodded.

She nodded and licked her ice cream.

"I can cook too."

She raised her eyebrows. "You can?"

"Yep. All those years alone I had to find a way to feed myself without getting obese off take out."

"What's your favorite thing to make?"

He thought about it. "I make a mean steak quesadilla."

Claire laughed. "Really?"

"Yep. I love Mexican food."

"So do I." Claire agreed.

"Maybe I could make it for you sometime."

He realized what he said a moment too late. He knew what it sounded like. It sounded like he had asked her on a date. He saw her stiffen slightly and thought she would for sure become hostile.

Instead she just said "Maybe."

His heart skipped a beat. Had she said yes to a date? _No of course she didn't_ he chastised himself. _She said that so she wouldn't hurt your feelings_.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kassy lay on the kitchen counter and slowly chewed her gum. Her head rested on her fist and she twirled a piece of hair around her finger. Laura was always telling her to not lie on the counter but she didn't see what it mattered. Hiro was writing a letter in Japanese a few feet away from her. His face was scrunched up in concentration just like when he used his power. It was cute.

"What are you writing?"

He looked up and smiled. "A letter to my sister."

"Kimiko?

"Yes." He nodded.

"Do you miss her?"

"I did not see her much before, but I want her to know I am alright."

Kassy nodded. "Why do you scrunch your nose like that?"

"What?" He frowned.

"You scrunch your nose. Why?"

"Um, I do not know. You ask a lot of questions."

"What can I say, I'm insatiably curious." She smiled, showing her teeth.

He smiled back and continued writing. She sighed inwardly. He didn't know how to flirt. Rolling off the counter she landed agilely on her feet. Strutting over to him she peered over his shoulder. She couldn't make heads or tails of what he was writing. She placed a hand on his shoulder. He glanced at it but didn't stop his writing. She dropped into the seat beside him.

Honestly she didn't know why she was interested in him. He wasn't even her type. Perhaps it was because she loved a challenge. Hiro finished writing his letter just as Ando came into the room.

"Ando, doesn't Hiro look cute when he scrunches up his face?" she smiled.

Ando looked like he wasn't sure what to say. "Um, I suppose." He said slowly.

"See?" she said, giving Hiro a small nudge on his shoulder.

"Ando! We must mail this letter immediately!" Hiro cried, as though it was of the utmost importance. He ran past Ando and down the hall.

He was such a strange man. He would fit perfectly with her.

"What are you doing?" Ando asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Why are you flirting with him?" he clarified.

"Oh so you _could_ tell. I was beginning to worry I had forgotten how to do it with the amount of attention he was giving me." She said as she combed her fingers through her hair.

"Hiro has been hurt too much. Don't play with him." He said firmly.

Kassy was genuinely confused. "Why would I be playing with him?"

"Because you're…" Ando waved his hand at her "you know."

"No, I don't know. What am I?"

"Out of his league." He sighed.

Kassy leaned back in her chair in surprise. "How am I possibly out of his league?"

"Well, because… you're just…" Ando stumbled, trying to find the right words.

Kassy leaned forward and put her elbows on her knees. "Ando, tell me, how many times has Hiro helped save the world?"

Ando frowned. "Well I don't know. A few."

"Do you know how many times I've saved the world? None. So please try to explain to me how _I'm_ out of _his _league. Because I think you are terrible mistaken."

Ando seemed at a loss for words. Leaping up Kassy skipped past him and after Hiro.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sylar sat across from Claire outside of the brightly lit café. It was dark out now and they had spent the entire day together. To Sylars amazement Claire seemed to have actually enjoyed herself. They had gone into little shops filled with seashells and other things for tourists to buy. He had found a seashell crown and insisted on buying it for her. She had firmly told him not to buy it before walking away. He had bought it any ways and placed it on her head. She still hadn't taken it off. They had lunch at a fish shack by the lake and Claire had even laughed when he tried to pay for their lunch in a solid gold bill. The fisherman had looked at him like he was out of his mind.

He had won her a large stuffed dog at a game booth and it was now sitting beside her chair. Over all it had been a successful day.

"So was today like a date or something?" Claire laughed in a sarcastic tone.

Sylar felt shock cross his face when he looked up at her. Luckily she was looking at her hot chocolate while she stirred it so he had a few seconds to compose himself.

"You wish it was." He smirked.

Claire rolled her eyes but smiled. He took that to be a good sign. He couldn't remember the last time he had had fun with somebody. Sure it had been fun for him when he had… collected abilities. But this was different. He felt genuinely happy.

"I guess we should head back to the car." He suggested.

She nodded and downed the rest of her hot chocolate. They walked together past the now empty stores in silence for a few minutes. Finally Claire turned to him.

"Today was fun."

"It was." He agreed.

"I mean genuinely _fun_. God it's been so long since I was actually able to enjoy myself. Who would have known I could have so much fun with you?"

"I did." He smiled.

She rolled her eyes. "Well Mr. Confidence, I hate to say it but you were right."

He just shrugged. Sylar was aware of footsteps behind him. He didn't pay them any mind. Probably just another couple walking to their car. Couple? Where had that thought come from? But suddenly there were several footsteps. Sylar felt a moment of panic. What if his father had found them? What if they were going to try to take Claire and him back? But when he looked behind them he saw that it was just a large group of young guys. Young guys dressed in baggy clothing. He didn't stop until he ran into Claire, nearly sending her sprawling. He looked forward and saw four guys walking towards them, dressed just like the ones behind them. What the hell was going on?

"Hey man. How's it going?" one the guys asked, stopping a few feet in front of them.

Sylar raised an eyebrow. "I'm fine."

"Mmm yeah, your lady sure is." He said looking Claire up and down.

Sylar felt the monster twitch. These guys had better keep moving.

"We don't want trouble." Sylar said quietly, forcing his heart to slow down.

"Well you found it." The man sneered, pulling out a knife. The rest of the crew did the same.

Sylar tried to fight it. He really did. But he just couldn't. He burst out laughing. Did this really happen in real life? Did this gang think they could just walk up to him and intimidate him? Sylar looked at Claire expecting her to be looking at him like had lost his mind. Instead she was smiling widely, as though sharing in on his joke. The gang leader looked both furious and confused.

"This isn't a joke." He shouted.

"Oh, but it really is." Sylar said trying to catch his breath. He heard Claire let out a giggle.

In one swift movement the gang leader grabbed Claire by her neck and slammed her head into a pole. And in that same swift movement it was no longer funny. Sylar felt the monster slip out. With a flick of his finger he sent the man into the wall. The rest of the gang shouted in surprise. Sylar walked so that he was standing in front of the man.

"What the hell are you doing? Let me go!"

Sylar tilted his head as he looked at him. "Do you like cutting people? Do like watching as they bleed and beg for mercy? Do you find joy in it? Because if so, we have something in common."

He lifted his finger and began to cut. As the man began to scream his gang members took off in terror. He cut until the man stopped moving. He dropped him to the floor. The man laid on the ground, his eyes staring emptily as blood ran down his face. Sylar was about to step forward and examine his handy work when there was a voice from behind him.

"Sylar?

He froze. Just like that the monster was gone, locked back in its cage. Oh god. She had seen. Seen what he really was. He turned back and looked at her. She was sitting on the ground, looking at him with wide eyes. Her crown of shells had fallen off and was lying beside her. He walked to her quickly and held out his hand, expecting her to push him away. Instead she took it and stood silently. She stared at him for a moment before turning and walking the rest of the way to the car. He watched her and felt like his world was slipping from beneath his feet. He had been so close.

He could have just shoved them out of the way and kept walking. Why had he killed the man? When he got to the car Claire was already sitting in the passenger seat. He climbed in and started driving without saying anything. What was there to say? Claire would go back to hating him and there was nothing he could say now that would change it. Every time he looked at her throughout the drive she stared out her window in silence. She didn't speak until they were nearly home.

"It's ok."

He turned and looked at her. He had obviously heard her wrong.

"What?"

"I said its ok. What you did."

He didn't understand. What was she saying?

"How is it possibly ok?"

"Because," Claire sighed "if I had your powers, I would have done the same thing."

He was at a loss as to what to say. He didn't find words until he pulled into the drive way.

"Don't say that Claire. You aren't like me. I may have tried to convince you in the past that you were but I was wrong. You are good and strong and kind. I didn't need to kill that man but I did."

"But-"Claire began, but he stopped her.

"No! I know that you hate me now and its fine. You can hate me if you want. I'm trying so hard to be a good man but I just don't know if I can be. I want too, god I want too. Not just for me, because I'm too selfish for that. I want to be a hero and I want people to look at me like they look at Peter! But they never will because I'm a monster. I kill people and I hurt people and I just-"

His words were cut off by Claire swiftly pressing her lips to his. It only lasted a second and it was rough, but she was actually _kissing _him. She pulled away and looked just as shocked as he felt. With a little yelp she jumped from the car and ran to the house. Sylar became aware that his mouth was still hanging open. He snapped it shut and leaned back. Warmth had begun to spread through him. Well geez, if he had known that would be her reaction he would have killed more people ages ago.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

**Plans**

Claire paced back and forth in her room. What had she done? Why the hell had she kissed him? She had just wanted to let him know that she didn't hate him for what he did. Sitting on the ground with those men standing over her she had wanted to kill them. The only difference was that he had the power too. The look on his face when he turned and saw her sitting on the ground had nearly broken her heart. His face had clearly said what he was thinking.

He hated himself. He thought she was going to scream and hit him and push him away. But why should she just because he did what everybody else was too moral to do? That gang leader would have gone to another couple on a different night and killed and possibly raped them, just like he had intended to do to them. It wasn't like Sylar had killed an innocent person or anything. He had probably saved lives by taking the one.

When he had started calling himself a monster she had to make him stop. She had moved on instinct before she could stop herself. Now she had done it. The look on his face when she had pulled away had been complete shock. He probably thought she was some tramp that threw herself at the nearest guy whenever she was vulnerable. She dropped her head into her hands in shame. Did he think she would expect anything from him? All he wanted was to be her friend and she had screwed it up. She climbed into her bed and pulled the blankets over her head. How was she going to face him in the morning?

Claire closed her eyes for what felt like seconds, but when she opened them light was shining through the sheets. Pushing her blankets back she sat up. When she looked at the couch, it didn't look like Sylar had ever come to bed. She groaned. She pulled her brush through her hair before going downstairs. Everybody was moving around and talking and it looked like something was going on. Claire saw Peter.

"Peter what's going on?"

"Claire, how are you?" he asked putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Um, I don't know. I'll be fine I guess." She shrugged. "But what's going on?"

"We can't just keep sitting around here. Kassy has a plan and we're going to get some more information on Samson Gray and what he was doing with us."

"I'm coming with!" Claire said with determination.

"No, Claire, it'll be too dangerous."

"Actually, she is coming with us."

They both looked up at Kassy who was watching them.

"Kassy, no." Peter frowned.

"Peter, yes." She smiled.

"Kassy it's not a good idea. We won't need her." Peter argued.

"Look, I get that you're used to being the leader and all, but this is my plan. We will need her and you need to stop being the over protective uncle and become an actual leader. Claire is a grown woman fully capable of making her own decisions and if she wants to come she can. Right Sylar?"

Sylar had just walked into the room and stopped. Claire felt blood rush her face when she looked at him, but he was actively avoiding looking at her.

"Claire shouldn't come with us, right Sylar?" Peter urged.

"Yes, she should. She would be useful." Kassy disagreed.

Sylar looked between the two of them. It almost looked like he was going to agree with Peter, but Claire wasn't going to accept that.

"Sylar." She said, pleading with her eyes. He finally looked at her. He looked like he was forcing his face to remain emotionless. Was he mad at her? After a long pause he spoke.

"Claire should come. Kassy's right, we could have a use for her."

Peter looked furious, but Claire knew the argument was over. If both Sylar and Kassy wanted her to come along then there was nothing he could do. Claire tried to give Sylar an appreciative smile, but he was already walking away. Claire frowned after him. Why did she care if he was ignoring her? She hadn't even wanted to talk with him to begin with.

But they had actually had a good time together yesterday. She had been surprised to find herself enjoying his company. But now she had ruined it and he was mad at her. With a sigh she turned to Kassy.

"So what's the plan?" she asked.

Kassy held up a picture and Claire examined it. It showed a tall, handsome, middle aged man walking to his car.

"Who's that?" Claire frowned.

"From what I've been able to gather he is Mark Laft, the leader of board of directors for Samson's company."

"Ok, well what are we going to do with him?"

"Are you terribly opposed to kidnapping?" Kassy asked.

"Nope." Claire smiled. "So what are we waiting for, let's go."

"We can't go until tonight. Every Wednesday night he goes to the same club in New York City, Exotica."

"Exotica?" Claire laughed.

"Yes, and since he has this _nifty_ little thing" she said as she pointed to what looked like a bracelet "we can't teleport him."

Claire raised her eyebrows. "They have that kind of technology?"

"I guess so. I mean we can still stop time, but carrying him would such a hassle."

"So then what are we going to do?"

"Well luckily I'm exactly his type. Tall, dark, and dangerous seems to be his thing. Hiro will teleport us to the club. Peter will shape shift and go into the club with me. You and Sylar will wait by the back door, since there is a good chance that will be our way of escape. I'll seduce him and lead him out back, away from his many security guards, and that's when we snatch him."

"Why is Peter going in with you instead of Sylar?" she frowned. She was suddenly worried about being alone with him.

"Sylar can be too impulsive and impatient. I don't want him to get angry and kill everybody there. He will be better waiting in the background in case something goes wrong and we need him."

Claire nodded. It made sense of course. It didn't mean she had to like it.

"Make sure you are ready by seven."

"Ready? But I'm not even going into the club."

"Well yeah but if anybody walks past the ally and sees you two standing there they'll just think you're making out if you are dressed for the club. If you are wearing jeans and a t-shirt you'll look suspicious." Kassy said as she walked towards the stairs.

"But I don't have any party clothes." Claire argued.

"Don't worry, I've got you covered." She said as she smiled over her shoulder.

Claire shook her head. What did that mean? She followed Kassy to her room and saw that there were several dresses lying on her bed, some of which were obviously too small for Kassy.

"I went shopping yesterday." Kassy explained.

Claire picked up a dress and examined it.

"Um, how did you know my exact size?" she wondered.

"I shifted into you and tried some stuff on." Kassy shrugged.

Claire wasn't sure if she should be freaked out by that or not. She looked at the dress in her hands. It was a light lilac color and it sparkled when you moved it in the light.

"Oh, that one looked great on you." Kassy beamed.

"Uh, sure. I guess I'll wear this one."

"Good choice." Kassy nodded.

Claire went downstairs and tried to distract herself. She watched as Micah and Molly played a game called 'Find them First'. Someone would look up a name in a phone book and Micah would use a computer and Molly would use an Atlas to see who could find them the quickest. It was fun watching them use their abilities as fast as they could and laugh together when one of them won.

After that she talked with Laura for a bit and played with Rose and Lily. She tried watching TV but that got boring fast. She talked to Emma and Emma even taught her a bit of sign language. At six she decided it was late enough to get ready. Looking in the bathroom mirror she pulled her hair back into an elegant up do. Slipping on the Lilac dress she noted that it was tight in all the right places. She rubbed on a bit of makeup for color. When she stepped into the hall Kassy was waiting for her. Claire stopped at the sight of her.

She was wearing a tight black dress that showed off her large chest and feminine hips. Her dark hair was curled into a thick mane of dark waves. Her makeup was all shadows and mystery, and the red lipstick looked extra bright on the overall dark canvas. She was also wearing three inch heels that would make her as tall as Sylar. Over all she looked beautifully intimidating.

"Wow." Claire muttered, feeling like she was going to look bland.

"Here" She said, holding up a pair of white high heels "these will make you seem less short."

"Gee, thanks." Claire smiled as she took the heels.

"And this will smell great on you." She said, holding out a bottle of perfume.

Claire took it and smelled it. It smelled like orange blossoms. She sprayed it over her body.

"You look great." Claire said, nodding at her dress.

Kassy just shrugged. "I hate wearing heels, they make me look like a cross dresser. But I can't exactly go into the club in flip flops."

Claire smiled and nodded. Kassy turned and strutted down the hall. Pulling her heels on, Claire followed. When they reached the bottom of the stairs Claire saw that several people were standing around, eager to do their part. When they saw Kassy they stopped what they were doing and stared. Too be honest it was hard not to. But as Claire looked around the room she noted that one pair of eyes wasn't looking at Kassy. Sylar was looking straight at her, his eyes moving from her feet all the way up to her face. When he saw that she was watching him he gave her the smallest of smiles. Had he forgiven her? Kassy walked to the middle of the room.

"Ok, so does everybody know what they are doing?" she asked, looking at each of them. Several people nodded their heads.

"Ok, well then just to be thorough. Hiro will teleport us to New York City. Peter and I will enter the bar. I will approach Laft and flirt. I'll lead him out back. Sylar and Claire will wait by the back door for us to exit. When Laft is in your sights, grab him. He has six super powered body guards, but hopefully we can get him before they notice he is gone. We will take him to the designated location and secure him. Hiro will then teleport himself and Matt to our location. We'll interrogate him, and based on whether he is cooperative or not will determine his fate."

"Yeah, we got it." Peter frowned, sounding a little irritated.

Claire watched as Peter shifted. He was now a six foot something blonde haired man. There wasn't anything distinguishable about him, which was what they were going for. They gathered around Hiro in a circle.

"I'll have Ando help me, since it can be difficult to teleport more than three people." Hiro explained.

Kassy nodded her approval. Taking Hiro's hand, Claire closed her eyes. Teleporting could be a bit disorienting. One moment there was nothing but the chatter of people around them. The next, she could hear the distant sound of club music. Opening her eyes she saw that they were now in a dimly lit ally way.

"Thanks guys." Kassy smiled at Hiro and Ando. "Now go back  
and wait for our call."

With a nod Hiro disappeared. Following Kassy to the end of the ally Claire saw that they were across the street from the club. People were lined up, all dressed up for the night, waiting to enter the scandalous looking club.

"Ok, you two go there." She said, pointing around the building.

Both Claire and Sylar nodded.

"You ready?" Kassy asked Peter.

"As ready as I'll ever be." Peter nodded.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kassy walked towards the door with as much confidence as she could muster, which was a considerable amount. There was no way she was going to wait in line. She had tried to make herself look as notable and interesting as she could, because she knew that was what these people wanted. She dragged Peter behind her, holding his hand lightly. The security guard looked her up and down as she approached and smiled. He nodded to her and slid aside, allowing her entrance. She smiled triumphantly.

Once inside the club Kassy looked around. People danced and moved everywhere, their bodies too close and too hot. Kassy hated clubs, and any other sort of party for that matter. People were desperate for human contact, in any form they could get. Her eyes scanned the crowd, hunting down her prey. After just a moment she found him. He was standing near the bar with a drink in his hand and several women surrounding him. She knew the women were drawn to his obvious power and money. They were all small petite things, desperate for his attention. Definitely not his type.

Kassy also noted his six security guards stationed around the room. They hardly looked professional with the way they leaned in and talked to girls, hardly paying attention to their boss. This would be easier than she had thought. Turning to Peter she whispered in his ear.

"Blend in and don't make contact with me. Only come if danger is evident."

Peter nodded and slid into the crowd. Turning back, she headed towards the bar. She noticed that she was taller than any other woman in the club, and taller than half the men. Once she reached the bar she walked right past Laft, not even giving him a glance.

"Sex on the Beach." She smiled to the bartender, who looked her up and down appreciatively.

"That does sound lovely doesn't it?"

She turned and saw Laft leaning against the bar beside her. It didn't surprise her that had already noticed her. She looked away, not responding. The bartender came back and slid her the drink. She lifted it too her lips and sipped it delicately. She hated alcohol.

"What's your name?" he asked.

Looking at him she let her eyes move from his face to his shoes and back.

"Not interested." She muttered.

He smiled. He loved the chase.

"My name is Mark Laft."

"Interesting." She said, sounding as though it was the opposite.

"Yes, and yours is?"

She glared at him. "Lily."

"Is that really your name?"

"Does it matter?"

"I suppose not." He shrugged.

She turned so that she was facing him. "What exactly do you want?"

"To talk."

"And is that all you want?"

"For now." He smiled.

She let herself smile seductively at him. "And what about for later?"

"We shall see."

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Claire leaned against the wall in the ally, avoiding eye contact with Sylar. He was leaning against the opposite wall with his arms crossed over his chest. She could feel his eyes on her and was afraid to look back. She was going to have to make the situation better and she knew the only way that would happen was if they talked about it. But what was she supposed to say?

_'Hey, sorry for kissing you. I don't know why I did it. Maybe it's because of the way you look in that tight black sweater'. Grr, stop thinking like that!_ She shouted inwardly at herself.

"What's wrong?"

Her eyes snapped back to Sylar. He was staring at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Why would anything be wrong?" she frowned.

"Because you were making a weird face."

"Oh, um, well it's nothing."

Sylar sighed. "Claire, are we going to talk about this?"

Oh God. "About what?"

"About you kissing me."

Well there it was, all laid out on the table. There was no avoiding it now.

"Look I'm sorry." She sighed.

"About what?"

"About kissing you!" she nearly shouted.

Sylar raised his eyebrows in half confusion and half amusement. "Why would you be sorry about that?"

"Well, because… because…" Claire fumbled, trying to gather her thoughts. Why was she sorry again? It was difficult to think with the way he was looking at her.

"Aren't I supposed to be?" she asked quietly.

Sylar smiled and looked like he was about to say something when there were suddenly voices coming from nearby. Two men rounded the corner to the ally. Before Claire could even comprehend what was happening, Sylar stepped forward and wrapped a long arm around her. She looked up into his face in shock.

"Sylar what-." she began, but he cut her off.

"Shh." He whispered.

He put his hand on her face and his eyes darted to left. Glancing over Claire saw that the two men were security guards. They were smiling and nudging each other, obviously waiting for something. Claire saw Sylar sigh, as though coming to a decision. Without so much as a warning his mouth was on hers. This wasn't like last time. Last time had been quick and awkward. This time his mouth pressed firmly to hers, holding her there. Claire felt like her body had frozen. She knew that he was doing it so the guards would leave, but her brain refused to work. Feeling her stiffness, Sylars mouth worked on hers, prying it open. Feeling his breath in her mouth, Claire's body started working again.

She allowed her muscles to relax and she leaned into him. She moved her hand up to his neck and opened her mouth, letting him fully kiss her. A tiny part of her was screaming that she had lost her mind. This was Sylar for crying out loud. A larger part of her didn't care. Feeling her sudden shift in reactions, Sylar got more into it. He pressed her back against the wall and slid his hand into her hair. Their mouths moved perfectly in sync, and her eagerness only increased. She wrapped both her arms around his neck and pulled herself up, closer to his face.

He responded equally, tightening his arms around her back. His tongue darted into her mouth and her heart skipped a beat at the sudden little movement. She was about to do it back when he suddenly released her. She dropped to the ground and he backed away towards the wall.

"They're gone." He said, sounding only slightly out of breath.

Claire stared at him with wide eyes and a fast beating heart.

"Yeah." She said in barely more than a whisper.

******** I'm a comment junky. It's what I crave.********


	10. Chapter 10

**So I decided to upload two chapters in the same day. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Heroes. If I did things would have gone down differently. **

**Chapter 10**

**Unleash**

Kassy leaned in and laughed a little harder than was necessary. Laft seemed to be enjoying her attention. They had been talking for twenty minutes now he had gradually moved closer. His hand was resting on hers and he was leaning in. Soon it would be time to lead him out back. Suddenly one of his guards came up behind him to whisper in his ear. Laft leaned away and frowned. He shifted away from her in what looked like irritation.

"Well my dear, this a disappointment." He frowned.

"What's wrong?" she asked as innocently as she could.

She made to move closer to him, but she couldn't. What was going on?

"You see, I've just been informed that your face matches one of a young woman who broke into a facility of mine a few days ago. She stole something very valuable and I want it back." He said, tapping his fingers on the counter.

A man stepped into her line of sight. He was pointing a finger at her. He must be the reason she couldn't move.

"Take her away. Make her tell you everything she knows." Laft said as he stood.

One the guards made to grab her and she reacted. Using her mind, she pushed out with her telekinesis. It wasn't as powerful as if she used her hand, but it was enough. Both of the men stumbled backwards and lost concentration. She leapt up and pointed her hands at them. The air began to quiver, but before she could fully engage her power her she was hit over the head. She stumbled, but thanks to Claire's power, it barely affected her. Turning to face the man who had hit her, she watched as his hand stretched and changed shape. It was now in the form of a large hammer. This was also when a woman screamed.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sylar was standing against the wall and trying to control his breathing when he heard the scream. He reacted instantly and darted for the door.

"Stay here!" he shouted at Claire as he ran the through the back entrance. Once inside, he stopped to examine the scene in front of him. People were scrambling for the entrance as a very strange fight scene broke out around them. Peter had changed back to his normal shape and was fighting two specials near the front of the club. He seemed to have taken one of their abilities and had purple fire shooting from his hands. Kassy stood near the bar and was fighting off four different men. Her fight moves were quick and precise, defending against all of them at once. Using his telekinesis he threw two of them against the wall. They tried to fight back but he cut their throats before they could so much as lift a finger. Kassy made quick work of the second two, breaking ones neck while incinerating the other. Peter had taken down one of his opponents but what still fighting another. With Sylars help he was dead within seconds.

"Thanks." Peter said, breathing hard.

"You're losing your touch." Sylar smirked.

"Shut up." Peter said taking a deep breath. "You aren't the one who has to fight with only one power."

"Yeah well if I did I would still beat you."

"I'm taking that as a challenge." Peter laughed.

"Hey guys, not that this isn't cute and all, but we have a problem."

They both looked at Kassy.

"Laft is gone."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

For a moment, when Sylar had shouted for her to stay, she had been tempted to run after him. But after a second of consideration she realized it was best if she stayed put. Just a few moments after Sylar had disappeared through the doors someone else ran out. For a moment she had thought that it was Sylar, but as soon as she saw him she knew it was Laft. He barely glanced at her as he began to run past. Thinking quickly, she stuck her foot out. His toe caught on her ankle and he went sprawling across the concrete.

"Hey, what the hell!" he shouted as she lunged forward.

Leaping onto his back she brought her full weight down on his wrists with her feet. He cried out in pain. Unfortunately, her one hundred and ten pounds wasn't enough to keep him down for long. Twisting back he brought his elbow up in an arc. It hit her face and she felt her cheek bone crack. Luckily the drugs they had given her had worn off and she barely felt it. She punched him as hard as she could in the face and felt satisfied when his forehead snapped forward and slammed into the ground.

She felt him move underneath her and watched as he brought his arm back. He plunged a knife straight into her heart. Blood rushed from the wound and covered the front of her dress. Well that was annoying. Yanking the knife out, she leaned back and stabbed him in the leg. He roared in anger. Let him try to run with the back of his leg muscle severed.

The back door burst open and Sylar ran out. He took in the scene of her sitting on Laft's back quietly.

"You got him."

"Yeah, no need to sound so surprised." She muttered.

Sylar lifted him up by his neck and he screamed in pain.

"Oh shut up." Sylar sneered, using his puppeteer power to snap his mouth shut and forcing him to stand at attention.

Peter and Kassy came out and looked between Laft and her. They took in the rip in the front of her dress and the blood. Kassy's face broke into a smile.

"See! I told you we would need her."

"Nice job Claire." Peter said as he stepped forward.

"It was nothing." Claire shrugged, rubbing a hand over her face.

"Let's get out of here." Kassy suggested.

Claire nodded. That sounded like a great idea.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

As they walked into the abandoned warehouse Sylar flicked on the lights. Kassy had chosen the location for its remoteness and its massive size. In the center of the huge room sat a single chair with metal chains. Kassy marched Laft to the chair and threw him into it. Sylar watched as she and Peter chained him to the chair.

"I'm going to call Hiro." Kassy said, walking away.

Sylar knew that he should be completely focused on the task at hand, but he was finding in exceedingly difficult. All his mind would think about was kissing Claire. He had stepped close simply to look less suspicious, hardly even thinking about it. But once he had her in his arms all he had wanted was to kiss her properly. He knew the men would leave whether he kissed her or not, but he had used it as his excuse. When he had first put his lips on her he had felt her stiffness in shock. As he had continued kissing her he had slowly become disheartened at her lack of response.

He had been about to pull away when her reaction changed. The way she had pulled him towards herself had surprised and thrilled him. She had kissed him back with just as much, if not more, enthusiasm as he had. So was this proof that she wanted him?

But what if she had simply been kissing him back to look convincing for the guards? He shook his head. He was giving himself a headache. He hated being unsure. Why couldn't he just walk up to her, tell her how he felt, and get it over with?

_'Because you might be rejected.' A small voice whispered. _

_'Shut up Gabriel.' _ Sylar thought angrily.

As Kassy came back into the room Hiro and Matt popped into existence. They looked around as Kassy approached them.

"Are you ready for this Matt?"

"Definitely." Matt nodded.

"Ok Laft, we have a few questions for you." Kassy said as she strode forward.

"Oh I'm sure you do." He smiled.

"Why did you kidnap a bunch of specials?"

Matt leaned forward and listened. After a moment he frowned.

"I'm not getting anything."

"Laft, what were you doing with us?" Peter asked.

Again Matt tried to hear his thoughts. Finally Matt shook his head.

"There's nothing."

Laft snickered. "You think this bracelet only stops teleportation?"

"We don't want to have to hurt you." Kassy frowned.

Sylar took a step forward. At Sylars sudden movement Laft flinched for the first time. Interesting. Sylar took a few more steps forward.

"Keep him away from me!" Laft screamed.

Kassy looked from Sylar to Laft.

"Are you afraid of me?" Sylar asked, tilting his head.

"Samson warned me about you! He said you were a psycho."

Sylar smiled. Yes, he could definitely use this to their advantage. He walked forward until he was only two feet in front of Laft.

"Tell us what we want to know, or I will make you beg for me to end your very existence."

Laft recoiled and sneered. "There isn't anything you can do that would be worse than what Samson would do if he found out I told you."

Sylar laughed and leaned forward. "Oh, you really think so?"

Laft swallowed loudly. Sylar knew what he had to do. He turned back to the others.

"If any of you don't want to see what I'm about to do, you should leave. It isn't going to be pretty and I can't guarantee I won't get carried away."

His eyes stopped on Claire, begging her to leave. She wasn't afraid of him anymore, but after what he was about to do there was a good chance she would revert. But instead of leaving she lifted her head and straightened her shoulders. Why would she stay? Did she want a reason to hate him?

He sighed and shook his head. He didn't understand her. But of course that was why he was so interested in her. He had always understood everything until Claire. She would always be his anomaly. In the end only Hiro and Matt left. Kassy, Peter, and Claire stood around watching him. Three of the only people who liked him were about to fear him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Several hours later everyone sat around Laura's kitchen. Peter felt weary. Everybody was looking between the four of them, waiting to be told what had happened. Kassy seemed to be trying to gather her thoughts, but even she looked distant. Her usual brightly erratic personality seemed to have momentarily dimmed. Peter had thought he could handle Sylars form of interrogation. He told himself that his friend needed him for support. But once it had begun Peter had wanted to run from the room. It had been horrible. Sylar and cut and ripped and tore at Laft. Laft's screaming had echoed through the building, and there had been no escape from it.

As he had watched Sylar torture the man he had been terrified that old Sylar was coming back to stay. He had seemed so intent and even joyful as he ripped the man's nails off. Peter looked at him now and was worried he would see that same joyful expression. What he saw instead made his heart break. Sylar had his arms wrapped around himself, almost protectively. His shoulders were slumped and his eyes stayed on the floor. His hatred of himself was evident.

"So?" Tracy asked. "What happened? What did you find out?"

"Well, we got Laft to the warehouse and chained him up, but he had a bracelet that prevented telepathy." Kassy said.

"So how did you get him to tell you anything?" Mohinder wondered.

"Sylar was… convincing." Kassy said slowly.

Several people's eyes widened at her meaning.

"Naturally." Mohinder glared.

Sylar closed his eyes but didn't say anything.

"Anyways, what we found out was disturbing." Kassy frowned, leaning on her elbows.

"Laft told us that Samson captured you all for a few different reasons. The first is that he wanted to make himself immortal by using Claire." She said, nodding to Claire who was sitting in a chair by the corner. Claire didn't look up.

"Second, he wanted revenge on Sylar. But we had already figured that." She shrugged.

"It's the third reason that surprised us. Apparently, he wants to make an army." Kassy said slowly.

"An army?" Matt frowned. "He can't possibly think we would fight for him?"

"No, not you. He wanted to breed you, and use your children."

There was a long shocked silence. People stared at Kassy with their mouths hanging open. After what seemed like forever Edgar spoke up.

"That's disgusting. We aren't animals you can just breed like livestock."

"To Samson we are." Kassy frowned.

"That bastard." Edgar muttered

"Apparently he has caught more people and he is holding them in different places around the country. We weren't able to find out where these places are but now that we know about them, we can help others." Peter said, speaking up for the first time.

"And where exactly is Laft?" Mohinder asked.

"Sylar had to… dispose of him." Kassy said quietly.

"Oh of course." Mohinder sneered. "I guess you had to let the dog off his chain a bit to stop him from killing innocent-"

"That's enough!"

Everybody turned to Claire in shock.

"I swear if you say one more word Mohinder I will knock you out! I don't' give a damn how strong you are!" Claire screamed. She seemed close to tears. Her hands were balled into fists at her side. A little sob broke through her lips before she turned and fled from the room. Peter turned and saw that Sylar looked more shocked than anybody.

As an awkward silence settled over everybody, people began to shuffle off to think about what they had learned. Peter saw Sylar go out the front door and he followed him. Sylar sat on the front steps and put his head in his hands. Peter sat beside him.

"Does Claire hate me?" Sylar asked.

Peter thought about it. "No, I don't think she does."

Sylar nodded. "I don't understand her."

"Neither do I." Peter agreed.

"I wish I was good." Sylar said, looking into the sky.

"Sylar, you are good. If you were still how you used to be you wouldn't be remorseful."

"That's just the thing Peter. I'm _not_ remorseful. I did what I had to do and I would do it again. I'm just… I'm disgusted."

"Well that's a start." Peter laughed.

A ghost of a smile crossed Sylars face.

"I need to be alone right now." Sylar said, jumping up.

Peter nodded understanding. He watched as Sylar shot into the sky and disappeared.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A few hours later Sylar flew in through his open window. Dropping quietly to the floor he looked at Claire's bed. She was asleep, with the blankets tangled around her body. He walked closer and examined her. Her eyes were puffy and it looked like she had cried herself to sleep. He got on his knees by her bed and folded his hands, almost like praying.

"I'm sorry Claire. I'm sorry I disappoint you." He whispered. She didn't stir.

"I want to be a good man. I _will_ be a good man. For you. I'll try harder, I promise. I want to be someone you aren't ashamed of. Someone you can be happy with. Someone who puts you first."

He ran a finger over her lips.

"Someone you can love."


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey guys the new chapter is up! I was going to wait to post it but the wonderful comments you guys posted motivated me to update it sooner. Let me know what you guys think! **

**Chapter 11**

**Realization**

When Claire opened her eyes in the morning her first thought was that her face hurt. She had cried herself to sleep. Rubbing her eyes, she sat up. The light coming from the window was far too bright for her liking. She glanced at the couch and noted that it looked as though Sylar had once again not come to bed. She sighed as she swung her feet to the floor. To be honest, she wasn't sure why she had cried so much. Of course it had been horrible to watch Sylar torture Laft, but it wasn't like he had forced her to watch.

When he had looked at her his eyes had clearly told her that he wished she would leave. But she had been stubborn and had wanted to look strong. She didn't want to look like the sort of person who ran away when the going got tough. But the way the man had screamed and begged had been almost too much to bare. What had been worse was that Sylar had seemed to enjoy himself. In that moment she had been back in her house with him, lying on the coffee table with her scalp removed. She had once more felt frightened of him.

She had wondered how she could have been so stupid to think he had actually changed. But then standing in the kitchen, looking at him, she knew that he had. The way he shrunk into himself had been so out of character. She had wanted to wrap her arms around him and tell him it was alright. She didn't hate him for doing what needed to be done. She didn't hate him for trying to be better. But when Mohinder had started making those remarks about him she had nearly lost it. It was a strange realization to come to that she actually liked Sylar. Not in a romantic way, she tried to assure herself.

_'Yeah right.' _Her brain whispered. She remembered a strange dream that she had had last night. Sylar had knelt beside her and whispered nice things. She couldn't remember what he had said; only that it had been nice. She could never want him in that way, because he would never want her like that. He was nice to her because he was trying to make up for everything he had done in the past. Tall, powerful, strange Sylar would never want insecure and weak Claire. She knew it was a fact.

She would be his friend and that's all. Climbing out of bed she made her way down the hall to the bathroom. She opened the door without thinking and froze. Sylar was standing in the middle of the bathroom running a hand through his hair. Steam still clung to the mirror from the shower he had obviously just taken. He was also completely naked. Her jaw dropped to her chest and her eyes widened into saucers. Sylar spun at the sound of the door opening.

"Claire what the hell?" he shouted, reaching for a towel. Her eyes darted down and then back up.

"I'm so sorry!" she squeaked.

Still, she just stood there. She had never seen a fully naked man before, especially not one that looked like this. Why hadn't she turned and ran down the hall yet? He was looking at her as though wondering the same thing.

"Um, do you need something?" he asked as he wrapped a towel around himself.

"I- I was just- I need to brush my teeth." She muttered.

"Ok, so am I to assume that you've never heard of knocking before?" he asked with raised eyebrows.

_Just friends! _She shouted at herself.

She frowned at him. "Of course I have. My mind was just… on other things."

At this he lost his confused expression and became sad. Oh no. Of course he would know what she meant when she said her mind was on something else. She regretted saying anything. Trying to change the subject she nodded to the sink.

"Do you think you could scoot over so I could brush my teeth?"

He nodded slowly and stepped aside. She put toothpaste on her toothbrush and ran it under cold water. Picking up his own toothbrush he did the same. They stood and brushed their teeth in a long drawn out silence. The awkwardness of the situation wasn't lost on  
Claire. As she finished brushing her teeth she reached her hand out for the faucet at the same time as Sylar. Their hands touched and she inhaled sharply, pulling her hand away. She saw him freeze and slowly pull away. After a moment of silence he turned to her.

"Claire, you don't have to be afraid of me. I promise I won't hurt you."

She looked up at him. "I'm not afraid of you Sylar."

She expected him to not believe her. She expected him to call her a liar and she would have to defend herself. Instead he just looked surprised.

"Why not?"

She considered it. Why wasn't she afraid of him? She probably should be, but she just wasn't. Failing to come up with a reasonable answer, she just shrugged.

He shook his head. "I swear you are the strangest person I have ever met. And I stayed with that carnival for a while, so that's saying something."

"Yeah well you aren't exactly a normal well behaved American citizen." She shot back.

He smiled and suddenly got a look on his face. Faster than she could blink an eye he had changed. He still looked exactly like himself, but his facial expression had completely shifted. His eyes widened, making him look almost innocent. A goofy half smile covered his face and he straightened his shoulders.

"Well golly gee miss, what do you mean? I'm just as normal as folk get around here. Nothing special about me, I'm just a good ole boy from Kansas." He had taken on an accent that reminded her of the 1950's. She couldn't help but laugh.

"Is that so Mr.-?"

"Mr. Gray, if it pleases you ma'am. And what's a lovely lady like you named?"

Smiling, she decided to go along. "Well, um, my name's Daisy." She said in her best southern bell accent.

"Daisy, what a beautiful name. Although my favorite name is Claire."

She laughed and smacked his bare chest. The skin in skin contact seemed to shock him just as much as it shocked her.

"Well Miss Daisy, I best be getting off and making myself look presentable." He said in quieter tone.

"Yes. Yes you best." She said trying to regain her accent.

He bowed slightly and as he straightened his expression was his own once again. He turned and marched down the hall, his back muscles rippling as he walked.

Claire gulped. Yes, just friends.

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When Sylar descended the stairs he heard a loud argument coming from the living room. He could tell immediately that it was Peter and Matt. He walked quickly into the room and examined the scene in front of him. Peter was standing with Molly behind him, almost protectively. Matt was standing a few feet in front of Peter and looked furious. Kassy stood between them and looking unsure about whom she was supposed to agree with. Everybody else stood around the room watching.

"You can't do this Peter! You have no right!" Matt shouted.

"It's for the best Matt!" Peter argued.

"How can you say that?" Matt said, trying to step forward. Kassy kept him back.

"What's going on?" Sylar asked.

Everybody in the room looked at him. Matt glared but seemed to decide to tell him.

"Janice isn't answering her phone and I want Molly to find them so that I can make sure they are all right. But Peter won't let her look."

Sylar frowned in confusion at Peter. That sounded nothing like Peter. Peter seemed to be desperately looking for an answer.

"Look, you may not like what you find." Peter said, keeping his voice even.

"Why would you say that?" Matt frowned.

"Because" Peter said, looking at everybody "it's a pattern."

"What are you talking about?" Mohinder asked, standing beside Matt.

"Claire's father is dead. And yesterday I asked Molly to find my mother. She couldn't." he said quietly.

There was a long silence. After nearly a full minute Matt spoke.

"Peter I need to know."

"Maybe Peter's right though." Sylar said, putting his hands in his pockets.

Matt shot him a withering look. "You wouldn't know how it feels, you don't love anybody."

Sylar felt indignation rise inside him. "That's not true."

Matt looked at him again with a strange look, no doubt wondering who he could possibly love.

"Ok then if you were away from the person you loved, and you couldn't get a hold of them, wouldn't you want to know they were alright?"

Sylar felt his resolve crumble. Matt was right. He knew Peter was watching his face.

"Fine, Matt. Molly, find his wife." Peter said, walking out of the room.

Molly laid her Atlas on the floor and began to look. Everybody held their breath as her hand moved around the map. After a moment she slowly opened her eyes. She looked at Matt and shook her head slowly. Sylar watched as Matt's world crumbled around him. He dropped to his knees and began to cry. There was something so horrible about it that Sylar had to look away. He knew that if anybody managed to kill Claire, he would burn the world down and take everybody with it. He knew Matt must be feeling something similar. Nobody seemed to know what to do or say, so eventually everybody walked away and let him be alone.

Sylar did the same, knowing Matt wouldn't want to be near anybody right now. Sylar walked outside, deciding he needed to go for a walk. But as he walked around the side of the house he saw Kassy lying in the grass. Her dark hair was thrown out around her and she had a small worry line between her eyebrows. He didn't want to talk to anybody right now, but it was obvious she knew he was there.

"What are you doing?" he asked, taking a step forward.

"Trying to bring the sky down." she said sarcastically.

"Ambitious." He smirked.

She nodded but still didn't look at him. Great, so she was afraid of him. He began to turn to leave but her voice stopped him.

"Will you sit here with me?"

He turned to look at her. She was sitting, propped up on her hands, and still looking at the sky.

"I don't want to sit with someone I scare."

She looked at him finally and smiled. She pointed to the grass beside her.

"Sit."

With a resigned sigh he dropped to the grass.

"Why do you think I'm afraid of you?"

"Um, because of what you watched me do to Laft?"

She examined him for a long time. She seemed to be deep in thought.

"Sylar, how many people do you think I've killed?"

The question caught him off guard.

"Um, I don't know. Ten?"

She laughed and shook her head.

"No Sylar, I've killed hundreds."

The number took him by surprise. "Yeah, but they were all bad guys. People who wanted to hurt you."

"Was the receptionist in their main offices a bad guy? She was probably just trying to get by and happened to get a job with them. She probably had no idea what they were doing. Did that stop me from killing her? No."

All Sylar could do was stare. As Kassy had spoken she had lost her usual upbeat attitude. She sounded sad and empty. She was looking at the grass with a hopeless expression.

"But Kassy, I've killed so many more innocents than you."

Her eyes snapped up to look at him. A fury burned in her eyes that almost frightened him.

"Do you think the number of innocent lives matters? In the end I still have the same one way ticket to hell that you have. I'll burn for eternity for what I've done. But do you think that'll stop me from killing again? Do you think I'll just stop going after them and trying to take them down because I know where I'm going when I die?"

It sounded like a rhetorical question to Sylar, but he still shook his head. What was he supposed to say to that?

Kassy shook her head sadly. "You can't beat yourself up over what you've done. You did what needed to be done and you got results. You just have to set a limit for yourself. Make a line in your mind and don't cross it. Kill those who try to hurt you and those you love. And don't ever regret it."

Sylar nodded. "I don't regret it."

Kassy smiled suddenly, her whole face lighting up. "Good."

Sylar leaned back so that he was lying in the grass. Soft white clouds were drifting slowly over them. He had never been one for cloud watching, but this was peaceful. He put one arm under his head and let the other rest beside him. Kassy didn't speak for a long time, so it nearly shocked him out of his mind when he felt her hand slide into his. He looked down sharply at their hands intertwined.

"What the hell are you doing?" he asked, sitting up.

She just shrugged. "It's comforting."

"It is not." He said firmly, yanking his hand away.

"I bet if Claire did it you would jump out of your skin with joy."

"I would not." he glared.

"Liar." She said, rolling onto her stomach.

"I'm not lying."

"Oh please. It was obvious who you were thinking about when you told Matt that it wasn't true that you didn't love anybody. I just hadn't realized that you actually loved her."

"I don't." he frowned, looking away to hide the lie.

"Li-ar!" she sang happily.

He glared daggers at her, trying to hint that if she didn't stop he would hurt her. She only smiled more.

"Why are you so afraid to admit it?" she asked, sitting up so that she could look at him better. He refused to answer.

"It's not a bad thing." She insisted.

"I know it's not." He shot back.

"So then why won't you just admit it? Does big bad Sylar not want anybody to know that he cares?"

"That's not it." He said quietly.

"Then why?" she nearly shouted.

"Because I won't be able to handle her rejection!"

The moment the words were out he wanted to take them back. He sounded stupid. He sounded weak and pathetic and so… Gabriel. He turned away from Kassy, not wanting to see her mocking him. But when she spoke her voice was soft.

"You don't know she will reject you."

"Yes I do. After everything I've done she will never want me. I'm the monster of her dreams."

"You may be surprised about what Claire feels."

He turned around sharply to look at her. "Has she said anything to you?"

Kassy shook her head. "No Sylar, I don't know anything. All I'm saying is you might as well find out."

He just shrugged. "I would rather be her friend and not really be able to have her than let her know how I feel and have her hate me."

"Would you really?"

Sylar sighed. "No."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Peter stared out the window in silence. This was bad. Samson was going after their families. He was obviously killing them off. The question was why? Peter supposed it could be for different reasons. Maybe he wanted to hurt them. Maybe he wanted to break them down and make them feel hopeless. If that was the case it was having the opposite effect. They were mad and they were not going to stand for this. But maybe that was also what Samson wanted. He could be trying to draw them out, make the first move.

No matter the reason, something had to be done. They were going to have to plan an offensive attack. And it was going to have to happen soon.


	12. Chapter 12

**New Chapter! Yay! I swear I would put up a new chapter ever day if it wasn't for work and basic needs like sleep and food. This ones a bit longer but I didn't think you guys would mind. Don't forget to leave your comments! **

**Chapter 12**

**Flashbacks **

Claire stood looking out the window at the two people bellow. Sylar was talking to Kassy in deep conversation. Claire knew she was snooping, but she was bored and had nothing else to do. Sylar laid back and looked at the sky. He almost looked peaceful. Claire smiled. She like seeing him like this. Though the smile slid off her face when she saw Kassy reach out and take Sylars hand. Claire spun around, not wanting to look anymore. She suddenly felt as though she had been watching an intimate moment. Of course Sylar would want Kassy. It was obvious. She was so strong and powerful and confident. They were a perfect match.

Claire sat on the end of her bed. She didn't care what Sylar did. He could hold hands with whoever he wanted. _She_ certainly didn't want to hold his hand. She was his friend and that was it. She stood abruptly and walked into the hall. She walked down it until she reached Peters and Emma's door. Peering in, she saw Emma lying on the bed with a magazine in front of her. Claire stepped in further to announce her presence. Emma looked up and quickly shut the magazine.

"What are you looking at?" Claire asked.

Emma looked a little embarrassed as she held up the cover. It was a bridal magazine. Claire raised her eyebrows.

"Big plans?"

Emma shook her head quickly. "No! No, I was just looking through. Well, fantasizing actually."

Claire slid onto the bed and smiled.

"Is there a groom in mind?"

Emma smiled and shook her head again. "No. I mean, I like Peter, but he hasn't made a move yet."

"He has a lot on his mind." Claire reasoned.

"Oh I know. I'll wait till things die down a bit. What about you?" she asked, nodding towards the magazine.

Claire shook her head. "I don't know if I'll ever meet a man that I want to marry. Or one that'll want to marry me."

"Don't be too sure about that." Emma said, looking away.

"What?" Claire frowned.

"Nothing." Emma smiled, shaking her head.

Claire dropped back onto the bed. Why did things have to be so difficult?

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

That evening when Hiro went to his room he expected to sit down on the bed and read one of his comics. He did not expect Kassy to be sprawled across the bed on her stomach, her legs in the air behind her and his comic spread out in front of her. She flipped through it slowly, examining each page. He stood awkwardly in the door, not sure of what to do.

"You're in this comic." She commented idly.

"Yes. Mr. Isaac drew those before he died. They tell the future." He said, stepping further into the room.

"So all of this really happened?" she asked with interest, still looking at the pages.

"Yes." Hiro nodded.

She smiled over her shoulder at him. He wasn't sure why this made him nervous. She closed the book and rolled on to her back. She propped herself up on her elbows and crossed her legs as she examined him.

"Did you need me to do something for you?" he asked, unsure as to why she was still in his bed.

Kassy giggled as though the question was funny. Hiro didn't know why that made him blush.

"You aren't like other men Hiro."

"Why do you say that?" Hiro asked defensively.

"Well for one, you haven't looked at my cleavage once."

At her words he subconsciously glanced down. He felt himself turn even redder.

"Secondly, you are selfless. You are eager to save everyone around you, even if you don't get anything in return. And third, I find you interesting."

"Do you not find many men interesting?"

"No." she said, shaking her head.

"But Kassy, I don't understand why you are here."

"Why do you do that?"

"What?"

"Call me Kassy?"

Hiro was completely perplexed. "Because that is your name."

"Yes, but you call everybody else by nick names you have given them or by their full name. Brain man, Cheerleader, Doctor Suresh. You seem to do that with a lot of people. But not me. Why?"

Hiro had no answer for her. He didn't do it for a reason. After a moment Kassy just shook her head.

"I'm sorry. I guess I am reading too much into it."

For some reason Kassy seemed to get sad and looked a little embarrassed. Hiro didn't understand what was going on.

"Did I say something wrong?"

"No Hiro, you didn't. I just haven't liked a guy in a really long time. Not since I was seventeen."

Hiro tried piecing things together. "And now you want to like someone."

Kassy rolled her eyes. "Hiro I_ already_ like someone."

Hiro thought about it. "Sylar?"

Kassy looked completely aghast. "Sylar? Why would you possibly think I liked Sylar?"

"Well, because, you are both scary?"

Kassy burst out laughing. "You think I'm scary?"

"Well, no. Only a little. But it's a good thing. It's who you are."

"But I don't want to be scary."

"Don't you?"

Kassy seemed to really be considering it. "Ok, maybe a little. It helps get things done. But I also want to be gentle, and I want someone to be gentle with me."

Hiro stared at her blankly. After a moment Kassy dropped her head back and shook it in exasperation. She climbed off the bed and stood in front of him. Even in her bare feet she was a couple inches taller than him.

"I swear Hiro; you are the most oblivious man I have ever met. And Ando, you can come out of the bathroom and stop eavesdropping now."

Kassy swept out of the room as Ando stepped out of the bathroom, looking uncomfortable.

"Ando" Hiro smiled , talking in Japanese "What are you doing in the bathroom?"

Ando shook his head at him. "She is right, you are oblivious."

"What are you talking about?" Hiro frowned.

"Hiro, Kassy likes you. In a romantic way."

Hiro opened his mouth and stared at his friend.

"No she doesn't."

"Yes she does! She flirts with you all the time. You are just too lost in your own world to notice."

Hiro looked away from his friend and frowned.

"But why does she like me?"

Ando shook his as he walked out of the room. "I've been asking myself the same question."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sylar stood against the back wall in the kitchen. Peter had called them all into the kitchen for a meeting and Sylar was curious as to what this meeting would be about. He examined Peter, who stood straight and tall, next the counter. He looked all business, so obviously something was about to go down. Sylar smiled at the prospect of actually getting out there and getting his hands dirty.

Just then Claire walked into the room. Sylar straightened up at the sight of her. He replayed the morning's events in his head. When she had walked into the bathroom and had been horribly embarrassed. He hadn't imagined the first time she saw him without clothes would be in the circumstance. She had been so shocked at seeing him naked he had thought she was going to run away. Instead she had just stood there. Had she never seen a man naked before? Did that mean she was a virgin? The idea was interesting. The awkwardness that had followed had been almost too much to take.

He had gone into one of his characters to try to cheer her up and it had worked. She had even gone along with it. When her hand had touched his bare chest it had sent a wave of electricity through his body. He had gotten away from her as fast as he could, fearing that if he stayed much longer he would pull her to him not let go. That would scare her. Now he smiled at her when she looked his way. He motioned for her to join him. She looked hesitant, but walked over anyways.

"What's all this about?" she asked, nodding at Peter.

"I'm not sure."

Claire nodded, still looking at Peter. She seemed to be avoiding looking at him. Sylar frowned. Had he done something wrong again? Everybody seemed to be there now, looking at each other. Peter stepped forward.

"I've called this meeting for one reason. We have to do something about Samson Gray. He has been killing off people we love and care about. He's trying to draw us out. He wants us to fight. And that's exactly what we are going to do."

"But we can't! We'll be doing exactly what he wants." Tracy protested.

"Not exactly. He's underestimating us. He sees us as easy targets. He thinks that just because he caught us before he can do it again. But this time we'll be ready for him." Peter said passionately.

"And how do you suggest we do that?" Edgar asked.

"We'll train. Those of us that have fighting experience will teach those who don't. When we finally go after Samson he won't know what hit him."

"Are you suggesting we teach the children to fight as well?" Mohinder frowned.

"The youngest one here is Molly, and she's nearly thirteen. Everybody needs to be able to protect themselves."

Nobody could argue with that. Peter glanced at Sylar and Sylar gave him a pleased smile. He was ready for this. They were finally doing something. Sylar looked at Claire and saw that she smiling too. He knew Claire would like the idea of being able to protect herself. As people began to talk amongst themselves Peter pulled Sylar away.

"Would you mind being an instructor?" Peter asked him.

Sylar raised an eyebrow. "I'm not sure they trust me enough to let me teach them."

"They'll get over it." Peter shrugged.

Sylar smiled. "Well in that case Peter, I would love too."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Claire was sitting in the living room that evening when Amanda and Kristie approached her. When Amanda smiled she looked so much like her mother Lydia. Kristie was another girl from the carnival.

"Hey guys, what's up?" she asked.

"We're going into town to get milkshakes. We wanted to know if you wanted to come." Amanda smiled.

Claire was a little surprised. She hadn't hung out with Amanda or Kristie before; they were both a little younger than her. Amanda was sixteen and Kristie was seventeen while Claire was nearly twenty. For a moment she considered turning their offer down. But why should she? It had been so long since she had just hung out with girls like her. Girls that didn't want to kiss her at least.

"Sure, I'd love to." She smiled.

"Great! Laura said we could use her car." Kristie said, holding up a pair of keys.

Claire caught them as Kristie tossed them to her.

Claire frowned. "Do neither of you have your license?"

Amanda smiled. "No, we never needed it at the carnival.

A half hour later the three of them were sitting in the local diner drinking milkshakes. Amanda and Kristie were both nice, if only a little bit dramatic. But Claire supposed all teenage girls were. As they sat in the little diner Claire noticed three guys approaching them. Her automatic reaction was to find something sharp to protect them with. She realized at that moment how psychotic she was. They looked like young college guys. The guy that was leading them was tall and blonde, obviously aware of his attractiveness. As they approached he leaned on the counter beside them.

"Hey there ladies. I've never seen you around town before." He said with a charming smile.

Amanda giggled. "We're new here."

"I can see that. I'm Kyle." He said as he held out his hand. Both Amanda and Kristie shook it eagerly, but Claire was more hesitant. She noticed the way he was staring at her.

"What are your names?" he asked.

Claire was about to tell him to go away, but Amanda spoke first.

"I'm Amanda. These are my friends Claire and Kristie."

"It's nice to meet you. Well I just wanted to welcome you. We are going to a party right now. Did you want to come?"

Claire tried to tell him how much she did not want to go to their party, but both Amanda and Kristie looked at her with pleading eyes.

"Please Claire can we go? I'm so tired of being stuck in that house!" Amanda pleaded.

"Yes, please? Just for a little bit?" Kristie asked, clasping her hands together.

Claire stared at the two girls. It really wasn't' her place to tell them no. She wasn't their mother. But she also couldn't leave them alone. She sighed in exasperation.

"Fine. We can go for just an hour."

Both of the girls squealed and clapped.

"Excellent. Do you need a ride there?" Kyle asked.

"No we have a car." Claire said irritably.

"Alright, then just follow us there." Claire nodded as they walked out to their cars.

About ten minutes later they pulled up to a huge house. Perhaps not as large as Laura's, but still big enough. Cars were parked everywhere and people were flowing out of the house and onto the lawn. It was obviously a college party. Claire was beginning to have doubts. Amanda and Kristie got out of the car and ran up to the house, not even waiting for her. She could feel herself getting angry as she approached the front door. The music was loud and the base was pumping in her ears. It gave her a headache.

"Do you want something to drink?"

She glanced over her shoulder and saw that it was Kyle. She shook her head.

"No, I don't think so."

"Oh come on. You're already here; you might as well enjoy yourself until your friends are ready to leave."

Claire glanced around saw that both Amanda and Kristie were already talking to people. They were obviously more sociable than her. Claire sighed. She supposed he was right. It wasn't like she could get drunk.

"Fine."

He smiled and led her to kitchen. She expected him to give her beer. Instead he handed her a shot.

"Just to take the edge off." He shrugged.

Claire rolled eyes. Boys were idiots. But she took the shot and downed it anyways. She wasn't about to look weak in front of the guy. He smiled and handed her a beer. She finished that fairly quickly as well. As the hour went on she talked to different people around the house. They were all college students. Claire noticed Kyle randomly giving her shots. She accepted them. They burned her throat, but she enjoyed the feeling.

After about two hours she found herself in the kitchen once again. She leaned against the counter as she looked for Amanda and Kristie. They would have to be leaving soon. The music really was giving her a headache.

"You alright?" She looked up at Kyle.

"Yeah, peachy."

"Did you want to go out back? It's quieter out there."

Claire thought about it. She really did want to get away from the loud music for a few minutes.

"Sure." she shrugged, following him out back.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sylar was talking to Peter when Edgar entered the room. He looked worried about something.

"Have either of you seen Amanda or Kristie?" he asked.

Both Peter and Sylar shook their heads.

"Can you not find her?" Peter asked.

"No, I've looked everywhere." Edgar said as he ran a hand through his hair. His eyes wandered around the room as though he thought he would see them sitting in the corner of the somewhere. Ever since Lydia had died Edgar had been taking care of Amanda.

"Are you talking about Amanda and Kristie?" Laura asked as she came in to the room.

"Yeah have you seen them?" Edgar asked.

"They went to get milkshakes."

Sylar frowned at the clock on the wall. "It's ten at night."

"Yeah, they went with Claire three hours ago."

Sylar was suddenly standing up and very alert.

"They left three hours ago?" Edgar frowned.

"Yes. They went the little diner in town called Mo's." Laura said, her forehead contracting in worry.

Sylar was flying out the door before anybody could say another word. He saw Edgar running at his super speed below him. They reached the diner within a minute. They were closing up but Sylar pushed his way in anyways.

"We are closing up guys." The waitress said, eyeing the two of them. Sylar was sure they made a terrifying pair.

"Have you seen three girls come in here? One is blond and the other two are brunettes." Sylar asked, placing his hands on the counter.

"Um yes. They left a few hours ago with some guys."

Sylar felt as though someone had thrown ice water on him. They had left with some guys? His father's men had found them. They had Claire. He would kill them.

"Did you know these men?" Edgar asked, barely hiding his panic.

"Yes." The waitress nodded.

Sylar frowned. Yes?

"They go to the local college. One of the guy's names is Kyle. It looked like he was flirting with them."

Yep, Sylar was definitely going to kill him.

"Where did they go?"

"I think I heard him say they were going to one of the college parties. I know there is a party going on right now on Thomson road." The waitress shrugged.

Without another word both Sylar and Edgar raced out the door.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kyle walked through the back yard and Claire followed him. The yard was huge, with tall bushes set every few feet. Kyle stopped at a bench and sat. Claire did the same.

"Pretty cool party, Hu?" he asked her.

She shrugged. "I've been to better."

Kyle laughed. "Oh, "I'm sure you have been."

Claire closed her eyes as she leaned back against the tall shrubbery. The night air was cool and it felt nice. But when she felt his hand take hers she sat up straight.

"What are you doing?" she frowned trying to pull away.

"You are beautiful Claire."

"Um, thanks. Could you let me go?"

"Come on, don't be like that."

"I don't _know _you." She said, pulling harder, trying to make him let go.

"Stop that!" he shouted. He suddenly grabbed her face and pulled it to his. He mashed his mouth to hers. She kept her mouth in a hard line. Bringing her fist up she punched him in the face.

"Ow!" he shouted. He no longer seemed irritated. He was now furious.

He threw her onto the ground and climbed on top of her. Oh God. No no no no! Flash backs of Brody went through her head. How was this happening again, more than four years later? She tried to fight but he was too strong. When she tried to scream he clamped a hand over her mouth. She felt him take off his belt buckle and undue the top button of her pants. She felt a fresh wave of panic come over her. She was thrashing and fighting with everything she had but it wasn't enough.

"You're going to like this." He whispered in her ear.

She felt his hand begin to creep up her shirt. And then he was gone. She took in a deep breath of air as she sat up. Looking up she saw that he was pinned to the garden wall. Standing few feet away was Sylar.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sylar stepped into the loud party, his eyes moving around for Claire. When he didn't find her in the first room he moved to the kitchen. He saw that Edgar had found Amanda and Kristie and was yelling at them. But he didn't see Claire. He walked through the whole house, searching. A girl that looked to be around Claire's age stumbled up to him.

"Hey handsome, wanna get me a drink?" she slurred.

"No." he glared, pushing her out of the way. He made his way out back. At first he didn't see anything. But then he heard it. Faint sounds of a struggle were coming from behind some of the bushes. Sylar ran over and froze. Claire was pinned under some guy on the ground. For one horrible second he thought she was willingly making out with him. But then he noticed his hand over her mouth and his belt lying next to him. Claire was jerking her body around, trying to get out from under him. This guy was hurting Claire.

He barely had to move his hand to throw the guy into the wall. Claire sat up gasping for breath. She stared at him with large eyes, tears making them shine. He only let himself look at her for a second before returning his attention to the scum bag in front of him.

"What the hell is going on? Let me down!" the guy shouted.

Sylar stepped closer, baring his teeth. "You think you can touch her? You think you have the right put your hands on her? I'll kill you for that."

The guy was struggling hard now, panic all over his face. "I can't move!"

"So now you know how it feels. To be helpless and know what's coming. To have no control over what happens to you."

"Sylar, don't!" he heard Claire say. He ignored her.

He stepped closer so that he was only a few feet away from the struggling man.

"Take a good look at the last face you will ever see." He began to raise his hand. He was tired of looking at his stupid terrified face.

Suddenly there were two delicate hands on either side of his face. He looked down slowly. Claire was staring up at him, her eyes wide and pleading. He body was pressed against his and she stood on her tippy toes so that she could force him to look at her.

"Sylar please. Please don't kill him."

Sylar frowned. Why did she not want him to kill him? He was obviously a bad guy. But looking down at her, he knew he couldn't. She would never forgive him. He lowered his hand and let the guy drop.

"Dude, what the-"

Before he could finish his sentence Sylars arm shot out and hit him. He fell back onto the ground, unconscious. Without another word Sylar wrapped his arm around Claire's waist and shot into the sky. She clung tightly to him. Within a few minutes they landed back in Laura's garden.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Claire stared at Sylar as he set her down on the ground. He paced a few steps away and then turned back.

"Why didn't you let me kill him?" he growled. "I could have. Hell, I should have."

Claire shook her head. "Sylar, it would have ruined you."

"No it wouldn't. It would have felt good."

"Exactly!" Claire shouted. "It's not supposed to feel good! You can't let the monster out every time someone hurts the people around you?"

"Why not? Kassy said I could kill those that hurt the ones I care about!"

Claire stopped. "You care about me?"

Sylar stood with his back to her. He looked over his shoulder and frowned. "Obviously Claire."

Claire stared at him for a long moment before speaking. "You know, that wasn't the first time. Someone's tried to rape me I mean. The first time happened before we even met. I was in high school, and his name was Brody. He threw me down on the bleachers, and I just felt so helpless. Just like tonight. Only last time, he killed me. I came back obviously, but I've spent a lot of time getting over it. Tonight brought everything back. Thank you for saving me." Claire could feel the tears sliding down her cheeks. She closed her eyes.

She gasped when she felt arms around her. She opened her eyes and saw that Sylar was hugging her. One of his arms was wrapped around her back and the other was holding her head against his chest. Slowly she let herself relax into him. She wrapped her arms around his back and sighed. It felt so nice to just be held. There was nothing sexual about it; it was just soft and kind.

"Sylar can I ask you something?" she asked, tilting her head back to look at him.

He stilled for a moment but stepped back and nodded.

"Yes Claire?"

She smiled. "Will you teach me to fight?"

He gave her an enormous smile. "It would be my pleasure."


	13. Chapter 13

**This chapter focuses on Sylar and Claire. I figured I needed to give them a nudge. Let me know what you think! **

**Chapter 13**

**Almost**

Claire swung her fist around, missing Sylar by only an inch. He dodged it and spun so that he was to her back.

"You're better than I thought you'd be." He commented.

"Well I had some training from my dad." She kicked her leg back and caught his shin. He let out a grunt but recovered quickly. With anybody else she would have felt bad about hurting them, but Sylar healed so quickly it didn't even faze him. He grabbed her wrist and spun her around. She shot her fist out, catching his jaw.

He smiled at her quick reflexes. She tried to kick up with her leg but he deflected it. He turned her so that her back was to his chest. He held her wrists crossed over her chest, making it impossible for her to hit him. She struggled against him, trying to get free.

"Come on; find a way to fight back." He smirked. He seemed to be enjoying himself.

Bending her knees slightly, she kicked up over her head. Her knees tightened on his neck and she used the moment to pull herself up. She was now kneeling on his shoulders, grasping his wrists over his head.

"You forgot I was a cheerleader." She laughed as she dropped behind him, pulling his hands down against his neck. He ducked and turned, now facing her. Both of their hands were above their heads and they were standing face to face. They were so close Claire could feel his breath on her forehead.

"Oh trust me, I didn't forget."

Claire's chest fluttered slightly at that. She wasn't so sure how she felt about that comment. Sylar seemed to realize for the first time just how close they were. He eyes dilated and she could feel his breathing pick up. She felt his grasp on her wrist tighten slightly. It would be so easy to just lean up and… Claire pulled away. She couldn't do this. It was wrong. She couldn't want him like that. He had someone else.

"Claire, what's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing." She said quickly.

"Then why do look guilty?"

Claire blushed and looked away.

"I don't. Just, don't flirt with me. It's not fair to Kassy."

He looked genuinely shocked. His mouth hung open and his eyes were wide.

"I'm… I'm not flirting with you." He said, almost sounding hurt.

Claire felt embarrassed. He probably hadn't been. She was reading into the signs too much.

He turned away from her. "Look, you asked me to teach you to fight and that's what I'm doing. If you don't want… wait, what was that about Kassy?" he asked, turning back to her.

"Well, you two are together." Claire shrugged.

Sylar made a face. "Um, no, we aren't. At least not that I'm aware of."

Claire frowned. "You aren't?"

"No way. I mean she's pretty and she's also one of the only people I can stand to be around, but she's not my type. We'd kill each other in the first week. Literally."

Claire was confused. "But I saw you two holding hands."

Sylar frowned, trying to recall what she was talking about. When he looked at her he smirked.

"Claire, were you watching us?"

"No." she said defensively.

He smiled wider.

"I just looked down and saw you two lying in the grass talking. I was just wondering what you two were talking about and then I saw her take your hand."

"Well then you obviously missed the part where I pulled away and told her not too."

Claire raised her eyebrows. "Oh."

Sylar tilted his head and examined her. "Why do you care who I hold hands with?"

"I don't." Claire denied. She didn't. Did she?

"Claire, you _did _kiss me." He pointed out.

"Well yeah but that was… a mistake. Besides you kissed me too!" she said defensively.

"True." He shrugged.

Claire stood there and stared at him awkwardly. She wasn't sure what to say. He was watching her with a small smile on his lips, but he eyes were wary.

"So, what does this mean?" she asked.

He thought about it for a moment, seeming to try to find the right words. When he looked up his smile was almost bashful.

"What do you want it to mean?"

Claire took a deep breath. That really was the question, wasn't it? What did she want? She knew that she couldn't fully trust him. She also knew that she wanted too. _Just_ _friends_ he brain whispered to her. She pushed that thought out of her head and straightened her shoulders.

"We could go to dinner."

If she wasn't so nervous herself she would have laughed at his expression. His mouth popped open with a small sound and his eyes went wide. He even gulped. He had obviously not expected her to say that.

"Are you… are you asking me on a date?"

She felt heat flood her face and for a second considered telling him that no, that was not what she had meant. But why lie?

"Yes."

He suddenly looked like a teenage boy being asked to prom. He subconsciously slid his hands into his pockets and hunched his shoulders.

"I… I would… um…" He stammered. He cleared his throat as he seemed to realize how unconfident he looked. He straightened up and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Yes, that would be fine."

"Ok, good." Claire smiled. Wanting to end the awkwardness she spun around and walked back to the house.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

For the rest of the day Sylar trained with people and taught them how to fight. Although, he couldn't exactly say his mind was completely in it. Claire had asked him out. _Claire_ had asked _him_ out. Part of him kept telling himself that he had imagined it. There was no way he could be that lucky. On the outside he was calm and sarcastic, just like usual. But on the inside he was jumping around like a six year old in a bouncy house.

He was actually surprise at how well he was keeping it together. He only slipped up once while fighting Ando. Half way through their training Ando stopped and requested having someone else teach him. Sylar realized that he had been smiling manically the entire time, probably looking like he was overly enjoying fighting him. He apologized and assured him that his smile had nothing to do with wanting to hurt Ando.

So then did this definitely mean that Claire liked him? Maybe not, but it meant that she was willing to try. That was all he needed. He could work with it. He would show her what a good guy he was now. Except, he wasn't exactly a good guy. But he was close. Maybe with her help he could become one. All he had to do was win her over. But how best to do that? He could take her to an expensive restaurant in Paris. He could fly over the Eifel Tower with her. He cringed at the cheesiness of that idea. When had he started having thoughts like that? The homicidal murdering ones had been there for a while, but these sappy ones were new.

Besides, he doubted Claire would like anything that extravagant. She seemed to have a taste for more subtle things. So maybe something local. He shook his head. He would think of something. In the evening he walked into the house and saw that everybody was sitting around eating dinner. Laura had made chicken finger and rice and people were spread throughout the house eating.

He found Peter in the kitchen with Kassy, Laura, Rose, and Lily. When Rose saw him she stood up in her chair.

"Sylar!" she squealed, leaping threw the air at him. He jumped forward and caught her. She giggled and clung to his shirt.

"You have stop doing that kid, you're going to get hurt." He frowned as he sat her in the chair.

"Nu uh!" she cried.

"Yes hu!" he countered.

Rose held up one of her chicken fingers to him. "Eat!"

"I don't want to." He frowned.

"Eat!" she insisted again, this time throwing it at him.

He caught it and mock glared at her. "You can't tell me what to do!"

"Yes I can." She stated in her high pitched voice.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah!"

"You want to fight?" he asked, raising his fists.

She held her tiny hands up and giggled. She struck out and hit him in the shoulder.

"Ow!" he cried. He had barely felt it. She did it again. "Ouch! Stop that it really hurts! You're going to make me cry!" he covered his face and began to pretend to sob. He felt little hands reach out and take his. She pulled his hand to her mouth and kissed it.

"All better!" she announced.

He heard a snicker from behind him. He turned and saw that most of them members of the house were standing in the entrance to the kitchen and watching him and Rose.

"Who would have known that a three year old could win against the great Sylar?" Mohinder laughed.

Sylar frowned. He didn't like letting others see him like this. He looked weak.

"No you don't."

Several people turned in surprise. Matt was leaning against the wall and watching him.

"You don't look weak Sylar, you look human."

Sylar involuntarily blushed. He didn't want everyone everybody to know what he was thinking. But he knew Matt was probably right. He would never admit it to anyone, but he had a weakness for children. Back when he had gone after Molly he had let everyone believe that he hadn't been able to find her. He had known the whole time she was there. Even though he had been a complete psycho, he hadn't been able to kill the little girl. He had even helped Micah escape. He didn't particularly enjoy letting people know this. He also didn't like the way they were all looking at him now. Like he was soft. There was no fear in their eyes.

But that was what he wanted, wasn't it? He shrugged and turned away from them, fixing a plate of food. They seemed to realize that he was uncomfortable and they walked back to the living room. As he sat down next to Peter he noticed a brochure on the table.

"What's this?" he asked, picking it up.

"Oh, that's the new aquarium they just built in the next town over. It looks really neat. They even have a restaurant that you can eat in. I was thinking of taking the girls." Laura explained.

"This is perfect." Sylar smiled.

"I hadn't realized what a big fan of marine life you were." Kassy joked.

"Oh, well I'm not really. But I think Claire would like it."

Peter raised his eyebrows. "Claire?"

"Yeah, we're kind of going on a date."

Peter nearly choked on the water he was drinking.

"Really?" Kassy asked excitedly "You finally asked her?"

"Actually no." Sylar felt a little embarrassed. He should have been the one to ask. "She asked me."

There was a stunned silence from those in the room. Even Kassy looked shocked.

"_She _asked_ you_?" Peter asked.

"Wow guys, thanks for the vote of confidence. It's great to know that you can't believe Claire would ever be interested in me."

"It's not that." Peter assured him. "It's just that… well, Claire really hated you."

"I know." Sylar nodded, thinking it over. "I'm not really sure when it happened. I think maybe when she found out her dad died. But whatever the reason, I'm not going to question it."

"Well duh. You are completely in love with her." Kassy laughed.

"I wouldn't take it that far." Peter said, laughing along with Kassy.

Sylar pressed his lips together. He wished Kassy would keep her mouth shut. He didn't need the whole world knowing how deep his feeling went. Although he had thought Peter would know how he felt about Claire. They _had_ spent five years alone together.

"Has Claire eaten?" he asked.

"She hasn't been down." Peter said, shaking his head.

Sylar picked up another dish. "I'll bring her some food."

He saw Peter nudge Kassy and smile. He rolled his eyes. Children. Sylar walked up the stairs to their room. He nudged the door open and peeked in. Claire was sitting on her bed and writing in what looked like a journal. He didn't know she wrote in one. He pushed the door open further and stepped in. She snapped the journal shut when she saw him. He held the plate out awkwardly.

"Are you hungry?"

"Oh, um, yes." She said, taking the plate from him. She sat back on the bed and dished some rice into her mouth. He wasn't sure what to do so he sat on the couch. Claire seemed to be looking anywhere but at him.

"How is it?"

"Oh, um, it's… it's fine." She mumbled.

"Claire if I had to guess I would say I'm making you nervous." He joked.

She glanced up at him and smiled. "I'm not nervous."

His spine tingled at her lie. He smiled. He wanted to try a little experiment. He kicked off his shoes and slid off his socks. He pulled off the button up shirt he wore so that he was only in his undershirt and jeans. He reclined back and put his hands behind his head. Claire had stopped with her fork half way to her mouth. Her eyes were wide as she stared at his chest. When she saw that he was watching her she became intently interested in her food. Sylar smiled. It would greatly help his goal if she was attracted to him. He already knew how attracted he was to her, but if she didn't want him physically things would be very difficult. But way she had looked at him and the way she was trying very hard _not_ to look at him made him feel a little bit more confident.

"So I have an idea for our date." He smiled.

She choked on the piece of chicken she was eating and looked up at him.

"Oh?"

"Yeah."

"What were you thinking?"

"It's a surprise."

Claire rolled her eyes. "Isn't everything to you?"

Sylar just smiled.

"Oh, and could we maybe not call it a date?"

Sylar frowned at this. "Why? You said that it was a date earlier."

"Well yeah, but I was thinking about it and I think we should take it a little slower than that."

Sylar tried to push his insecurities and irritation back. "Claire, I think a first date is pretty slow. Isn't that how it's supposed to start?"

Claire frowned. "How what's supposed to start?"

Sylar felt as if someone had let all of the air at him. He sat back on the couch and stared at his hands. "I don't know Claire."

He knew that she was staring at him. He refused to look back at her. He wouldn't let her see how her words had hurt him. Nobody could ever see the things that hurt him. After a minute she spoke.

"Well, I guess it is kind of like a date."

He frowned. He didn't want her to pity him. He needed her to want it to be a date.

"It can be whatever you want it to be." He muttered.

"Well, let's just do whatever you were planning and see how it goes."

He looked up at her. She was biting her bottom lip and examining her nails. He sighed. He supposed he could take it slow. Really slow. If that was what she needed. At least it was a start. He knew one thing was for sure. He was going to make it the best almost-date she had ever been on. By the time he was through she would be begging to be his girlfriend. He smiled at her.

"Sure Claire, whatever you want."


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

**Dates**

When Claire opened her eyes she saw that it was still early morning. The light coming through the window was blue and it made everything in the room seem softer. That included Sylar. Claire sat up in bed and stared at him. He was shirtless, like he always was when he slept. His mouth hung slightly open and he seemed so… vulnerable. He muttered something in his sleep and shifted so that he was facing her. She smiled. When had this happened? When had she stopped hating him? It had happened so quickly and so suddenly she hadn't been able to stop it. If she could have, would she? She didn't know that answer to that. She liked him. A man that had once disgusted and horrified her now made her smile when no one else could. She couldn't avoid these feelings any longer. But what exactly _were _these feelings? She wasn't stupid; she knew that she was attracted to him. She also liked talking to him. Was it a crush? She honestly didn't know.

As she watched him he began to mutter again. She leaned forward so she could hear better. "Mhhh, Claire, stop that."

Claire froze. Had he woken up and caught her staring at him? But no, he was still asleep. He was dreaming about her, telling her to stop doing something. She had to cover her mouth to stifle her laugh. He smiled a little in his sleep. He looked so cute she almost reached out and touched him. But if he woke up and caught her touching him, what would that look like? Nothing good, she knew.

She climbed out of bed went to the hall. She would use the restroom before trying to get some more sleep. As she crept down the hall in the early morning light she glanced up. Stopping abruptly she frowned. Kassy was standing outside Hiro's door and peaking in. She hadn't seen Claire and was standing very still.

"Kassy?" Claire asked.

Kassy spun around, her eyes wide. "Oh my God Claire, you nearly scared me to death. And that would have been a real accomplishment with me having your powers and all."

Claire frowned. "What are you doing outside Hiro's bedroom?"

For perhaps the first time Kassy looked extremely embarrassed. "Well, um, I kind of have a crush on him."

Claire's eyebrows shot up. "On _Hiro? _Why?"

Anger flashed in Kassy's eyes. "I don't know Claire, why do you have a crush on Sylar?"

Claire's mouth popped open in shock. Kassy had never gotten angry at her before. It was a little scary.

"Um, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you."

Kassy softened and looked remorseful for yelling at her. "No, it's ok. I'm just a little defensive of my feelings for Hiro. It's been forever since I liked a guy and things are so different now. Besides, Hiro doesn't feel the same way about me."

"How do you know?" Claire asked.

Kassy rolled her eyes. "It's _Hiro_ Claire."

Claire smiled, understanding. "I wouldn't have taken Hiro for your type."

"Neither would I." Kassy agreed. "He's just so… good. He balances me and I like it."

Claire nodded, deep in thought.

"He does the same with you."

Claire looked sharply at Kassy. "What?"

"Sylar. I can see it. You bring out the good in him and he brings out the fire in you."

Claire wasn't sure what to say. She pressed her lips together and examined Kassy. She noticed for the first time that Kassy was fully dressed.

"Where are you going?"

"I sensed some specials nearby. Maybe just a state over. I think there are three or four of them. Not many, but I figure with an eventual war with Samson looming over our head we can use as many specials as we can get. I just borrowed Hiro's power for the day. I should be back by tonight."

Claire smiled. "Borrowed? You sound like you are going to return it."

"Well yes, I will. When I get back I'll replace it with a different power."

Claire raised her eyebrows. "Why would you do that? It's a really useful power to have."

"True." Kassy nodded. "But I think Hiro like being the only 'Master of Time and Space'. I don't want to take what makes him special."

Claire tilted her head. "You really like him."

It wasn't a question but Kassy smiled and nodded. Kassy turned and began to walk down the hall. Before she descended the stairs she glanced back and smiled.

"Have fun on your date."

With a wink she disappeared.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

As Sylar woke up he rolled onto his side. He noticed, with irritation, that his arm had fallen asleep. As he sat up he shook it around, trying to get his circulation flowing again. He glanced at Claire's bed and saw that she was still asleep, wrapped in her soft blankets. From the angle the light was coming in from the window it appeared to be 10:13. He had slept in. He walked out of the room, still rubbing his arm, and headed to the bathroom. He had everything planned out for his date with Claire. He had called the aquarium the night before and reserved tickets. He had gotten all of the information he needed. From 1 o'clock till 2 they would walk through maze of fish tanks and look at the fish. From 2 till 3 they would go to the dog show, where you could watch dogs do amazing tricks and there was even a little comedy thrown in. From 3 till 4 they would to the dolphin show. He knew Claire would like that. Then they would go to dinner. Everything was going to be great as long as he-

He stopped abruptly in the hall. Molly was standing few feet away from him, staring with wide eyes. Sylar hadn't been alone with her since he… well since he killed her parents. She had just come out of the bathroom and seemed to be frozen in place. He tried to smile pleasantly at her. This only made her cringe. He sighed.

"I'm not going to hurt you Molly."

"I… I know." She said quietly.

"Well, I was just going…" he waved his hand at the restroom.

She nodded quickly and stepped aside. As he walked past he tried to keep as much distance between them as he could.

"Maybe I could forgive you some day."

Sylar stopped, halfway through closing the door, and looked at her. She wore a small frown and had her lips pressed together, as though she hadn't wanted to say anything. Spinning around she scurried down the hall. Smiling slightly he continued into the bathroom. He tossed the clothes he had brought with him onto the counter. It was just a simple white t-shirt and jeans. He preferred to wear black but he knew Claire liked him in color. He could tell by the she looked at him when he had worn the shirt she gave him. He showered quickly, letting the hot water massage his muscles. He then combed his hair back carefully, making it stand just right. He would never let anyone know it, but he was actually proud of his appearance. He hadn't always been able to say that. When he walked into his bedroom a half hour later Claire was awake. She was pulling a brush through her hair and looked up when he came in. She took in his appearance quietly.

"So where are we going?"

He smirked. "That's a secret."

Claire rolled her eyes. "Is everything a secret with you?"

"Pretty much." He shrugged.

"Well what should I wear?"

"Just something casual and comfortable."

Claire seemed to relax. He knew it was a good choice to not anything too extravagant. Claire went off to get ready and Sylar headed down stairs. Mohinder, Peter, Micah, and Tracy were all in the kitchen.

"You ready for your big day?" Peter smiled.

"What's today?" Tracy asked.

"Sylar has a date." Peter laughed.

"A date? Who would go on a date with you?" Mohinder frowned.

"Claire." Micah shrugged.

But Mohinder and Tracy looked at Micah in surprise. Even Sylar raised his eyebrows.

"Oh come on, it's obvious. Claire's the only one you ever look at and she's been looking differently at you lately too. It doesn't take a genius to figure it out."

"Obviously it does." Tracy laughed.

Sylar frowned. He didn't want everybody knowing about this. If he messed it up he didn't need everybody knowing what loser her was. He shrugged and poured himself some orange juice.

"I can't believe she's forgiven you already." Mohinder scowled.

"Yeah, neither can I." Sylar mumbled.

Just then Claire bounced in wearing a red tank top, jeans, and tennis shoes. She looked awkwardly at the other people in the room before turning to Sylar.

"So are you ready?"

Sylar looked at the clock and saw that it was just after eleven. If they left now they could get to the aquarium by 1.

"Yep." He smiled, downing the rest of his orange juice.

About two hours later they pulled around the corner and the huge place loomed up in front of them. Claire leaned forward to read the sign.

"An aquarium?" she asked with raised eyebrows.

"Yep." He smiled.

"Why an aquarium?"

Sylar frowned. Did she not like it?

"I don't know, I just thought it was a good idea." He replied, feeling dejected.

"No I do like it. I just can't imagine you walking around a peaceful aquarium."

The corner of his mouth quirked up. "What, do you think that just because I was a psycho I liked constant chaos?"

"Well, yeah." Claire shrugged.

Sylar just rolled his eyes as they got out of the car. It was a Wednesday afternoon so the place wasn't really that busy. As they walked to the front counter the lady behind the glass smiled at them.

"How can I help you?" she asked in an overly polite voice.

"I have two tickets reserved under the name Sylar."

"How do you spell that?"

He raised his eyebrows. "S-Y-L-A-R."

She nodded as she typed it into the computer. "Alright I have two tickets here for you. Would you and your girlfriend like a map?"

Sylar reached for the map, but he saw Claire freeze beside him. What was wrong? He replayed what the lady said in his head. Oh. Girlfriend. That's what was making Claire look so uncomfortable. He considered correcting the lady, but he couldn't think of a way to do it without making things more awkward.

_'Oh, I'm not her boyfriend. I'm an ex serial killer that once hunted her town and scalped her. But don't worry I'm good now! I spent eight years trapped in my own head with her uncle and now I'm on the good side'_

So instead he just pulled Claire away towards the entrance. Once inside Sylar knew he had made the right choice in bringing her here. She stared in awe at the diverse sea life. She placed her hands on the glass and smiled as colorful fish swam by. As they walked she kept her fingers lightly on the glass, allowing fish to come to the glass and nibble at her fingers. All the while Sylar marveled at her. He loved the way she seemed to get lost in the beauty of the fish. Her eyes were wide and she had a constant little smile on her face. Sylar didn't look at the fish once.

After a while he led her to the dog show. She laughed and clapped and cheered along with the rest of the crowd. He even found himself laughing along when a small dog ran up to them and dropped a flower necklace in Claire's lap. Turning to him she placed it around his neck. He smiled at her and accepted it. If it would make her happy he would wear a tutu and a tiara. He thought she would be bored by the time the watched the dolphin show but she was just as enthralled as she had been the rest of the day. He looked at her in surprise when a bright flash went off near his face. She was holding up a disposable camera and taking pictures of the dolphins.

"Where did you get that?"

"The gift shop." She said with a shrug. She turned the camera on and snapped a picture before he could react. She giggled at his surprised expression.

"Claire, I don't like having pictures taken." He objected.

"A lot of people don't but you are just going to have to suck it up." She said with smile.

He fake glared at her as he snatched the camera from her hands. He took a quick picture of her.

"Hey!" she protested.

"Not so fun when the tables are turned."

"Would you like me to take one of the two of you?"

They both looked up at a lady who worked there. She was holding out her hand.

"Oh, um…" Claire mumbled.

"Sure." Sylar said, holding out the camera. The lady took it and held it up. Claire smiled dutifully at the camera, but when the flash went off, Sylar was looking down at her. They made their way to the restaurant and sat down. As Claire looked over her menu she twirled a piece of hair absently around her fingers. There was a surprisingly good selection of food for it being a restaurant at an aquarium. The waiter came and took their order and they were left in silence. Claire twirled her straw around in her water and Sylar got the impression she was avoiding looking at him.

"Is something wrong Claire?"

She glanced up and smiled. "No."

There was no tingle on his spine so he knew she wasn't lying. He relaxed back into his chair. Their food came and they began to eat in silence. Sylar was trying to think of anything to say. It wasn't often he found himself lost on words.

"How's your food?" he asked.

""It's good." She nodded.

When she didn't speculate further he frowned. She seemed to be lost in thought. Was the almost date not going as well as he had thought? He was about to ask her when she spoke up.

"What's your favorite childhood memory?"

He stared at her. "What?"

"Well, I want to get to know you better. The real you. So what was your favorite childhood memory?"

He furrowed his eyebrows in thought. He didn't really have many good memories. After struggling for a moment he smiled.

"I was six. It was before my adoptive dad left. He bought us tickets to a baseball game. I never really liked baseball, but I remember loving the huge crowd. He let me eat hotdogs and drink soda. My mother never let me do that. That's one of the only times in my childhood where I remember feeling normal."

Claire smiled happily at him. "I thought you didn't want to be normal."

Sylar made a face. "I don't anymore. But it sure would have helped with not getting beat up in school."

Claire raised her eyebrows. "Did you really get beat up a lot?"

Sylar pointed to his eyebrows. "These may be charming and alluring now, but on a ten year old they just look ridiculous."

Claire covered her mouth as she laughed. God that was a nice sound. He leaned forward on the table.

"Yeah, well having frizzy hair and braces didn't help me make friends either."

Sylar tilted his head as he tried to image Claire like that. In his mind it was adorable.

"I think you would look good in braces."

She laughed again and shook her head. "You're delusional."

"Not going to fight you there." He said joining in on her laughter. Once they were finished eating he paid and they walked to their car. They were walking quite close and their hands brushed against each other slightly. He had to fight the overwhelming urge to reach out and take her hand, just in case it would make her uncomfortable. As they got into the car and drove away he thought of something.

"Hey, what's _your_ favorite childhood memory?"

Claire considered it and suddenly got a little sad smile on her face.

"I like the memories where my dad and I would just sit around and eat popsicles."

Crap. Why hadn't he realized thinking about her childhood would remind her of her dad? The rest of the drive home they made small talk and laughed about different things from their past. It was nice. When they pulled into the driveway all of the light in the house were on. They walked slowly up to the front steps.

"Today was really nice. Thank you." She smiled.

"No, thank _you_ for asking me to come."

They stopped and she turned to look at him. "How do you always know the right thing to say?"

He smirked and shrugged. "It's a gift."

He noticed an eyelash on her cheek and reached out to pull it off. She stilled and her eyes widened slightly at his touch. Her breathing picked up pace and she stared at him. He held out the eyes lash on his finder tips.

"Make a wish."

She looked from him to the eyelash and closer her eyes. After a moment she leaned forward and blew it off. The feeling of her breath on face made him shiver. She opened her eyes and seemed to realize how close their faces were. He wanted to lean forward touch his lips to hers, to taste her. He began to lean forward, to do just that.

"Claire?"

He frowned at the sudden distraction. He looked at person on the steps and glared. He didn't know this person.

"West?" Claire said, stepping away from him.

West? Who the hell was West? Whoever he was Claire obviously knew him. She smiled as she began walking towards him. What the hell was happening? The young man jumped down the stairs and ran to hug Claire. He spun her around once. It took all of Sylars will power to not rip the idiot in half. Who did he think he was?

"It's been so long!" West laughed.

"I know." Claire agreed.

"I missed you." West said quietly.

Sylar clenches his fist. Claire seemed to remember him then and pulled West over.

"Sylar, this is West. West this is Sylar, my…"

_Boyfriend? Date? Love of my existence? _He would take any of the above.

"Friend." She finished.

Sylar felt like she had slapped him. Was that all he was?

"It's nice to meet you." West said, holding out his hand.

Sylar glanced from his hand and back to his face. He could feel the monster clawing its way out. He fought against it. West dropped his hand and frowned as he seemed to register the amount of danger that was rolling off the man in front of him. Claire seemed to notice it too.

"How do you two know each other?" he asked in a tight voice.

"Oh, we dated." West nodded.

Sylar flinched. It was becoming increasingly harder to keep the monster at bay. Claire seemed to understand the danger as she pulled West back towards the house.

"I'll talk to you later Sylar." Claire waved.

Sylar watched as his world walked away from him. Out of all the injuries he had ever suffered, this hurt the worst. So this was what it felt like to have your heart ripped out.

******* Poor Sylar. How will he handle this? Please leave me your comments letting me know what you think! I appreciate it!*******


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

**Uncomfortable Positions **

Sylar stormed away from the house and headed towards the lake. He felt like he was falling apart. He could deal with never having Claire at all, but getting so close just to be ripped away by some barely-out-of-puberty kid? He couldn't handle it. Who did Claire think she was to just throw him away so easily? He was a great catch. Sure he had his flaws, but didn't everybody? He could feel his furry and frustration building up inside him. He saw a large boulder nearby and picked up with his mind. Using all of his strength he hurled it into the lake. It sailed about a hundred yards before hitting the lake with a distant splash. Sylar dug his nails into his palms.

Why did he even try? If Claire was going to run off with the first goody good boy she found then it was her loss. He didn't need her. He could get by just fine without her near him. He didn't need a tingle on his spine to know he was lying to himself. After having a taste of her, he needed more. He would forever be needing more. But what could he do? Killing the guy would probably feel great, but Claire would hate him forever if he did that. He could try to talk sense into her. He could make his case as to why he was the best fit. But he wouldn't do that. He wasn't going to beg her.

He realized that he still had the flower necklace around his neck. In a fit of anger he ripped it off and threw it on the ground. He wanted to hate Claire. He wanted to hate her for toying him along like this. He had once hated her, so very long ago. But now there was no way. He was only going to ever feel one way about her. He despised it. He didn't want to feel this weak need to have Claire. But he did. He rubbed the bridge between his eyes.

All he could do was wait. He would wait until she realized she was meant to be with him. He knew he was potentially setting himself up to wait for a very long time. But he would. He would wait a hundred years if he had too. After all, they had eternity. He turned to go back to the house and stopped. Walking back he picked up the necklace. He folded it carefully before putting in his pocket.

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Claire sat on the couch beside West. It had been three days since he had come to the house, and he hadn't come alone. When Kassy brought West back she brought two others as well. Jeana was twenty two with the power of sound manipulation and Paul was nineteen with the power of emotion manipulation. They were seated on the floor near the couch. Everyone in the house had greeted them happily. Everyone except Sylar of course. From the minute he had laid eyes on them he seemed to hate them. Claire didn't understand what his problem was.

At that moment Kassy and Hiro appeared in the middle of the room. Kassy smiled brightly as she dropped herself of the couch between her and West. Kassy had discovered another house similar to theirs. They were housing specials who had no other place to go and Kassy was reaching out to them.

"There are some interesting abilities over there. I picked up a couple. Do you want to see?" Kassy asked.

"Claire laughed. "Maybe later."

"Suit yourself." Kassy shrugged, jumping back up.

West slid closer on the couch and slid his arm around her shoulder. Claire stilled. He had been doing things like this ever since he had showed up. It was obvious he still had feelings for her. Claire wasn't sure how she felt about him, but she wanted to find out. She still had feelings for Sylar, but she just didn't know. Things were_ easy _with West. He wasn't cryptic or sarcastic with her. Claire allowed herself to lean back into him.

Sylar walked into the room and stopped when he laid eyes on them. He glared at them before turning and leaving once more. Claire sighed. She didn't know what to do. Peter burst into the room and looked around. His face was somewhere between excited and serious. He looked deranged.

"Peter what's wrong?" Claire frowned.

"Wrong? Nothing's wrong! Something's finally going right! We found one of the facilities."

As though summoned by magic Kassy came running into the room. "What? You did? Yes!"

Claire sat forward eagerly. "So what's the plan?"

"Plan?" Kassy frowned "I don't have a plan yet I just found out! Peter, how did you find it?"

"Well I was working with Molly and Micah. I was having Molly look up different known specials. Most of the time they were just in different random parts of the world, but then five of them were in the exact same place. I had Micah look into the location and he found that it's some sort of factory out in the middle of nowhere, just like the place we were."

Kassy smiled. "Interesting. I need to think!" With that she dashed up the stairs.

"I'm going to go fill Sylar in." Peter said as turned and left.

Claire stood up. She wanted to get some rest tonight because she knew there was a good chance that by tomorrow morning everybody would be running around and preparing for Kassy's plan.

"Night West." She smiled.

"I'll walk you to your room." He suggested.

"Oh, um, alright." She murmured.

They walked up the stairs and down the hall side by side. Claire didn't know why she felt so nervous. When she got to her room she opened the door and turned to him. He was leaning against the door frame, very close to her face.

"These past few days have been great Claire. I hadn't realized how much I missed having you around."

Claire smiled, not sure how to respond. He ran a finger over her face, as though moving piece of hair. She staid very still.

"So, I guess I'll see you tomorrow." He smiled.

"Yep." She agreed.

He ran a finger against her bottom lip. "Well, see you then."

He turned and walked down the hall. Claire frowned. When he had touched her lip she had thought she would feel butterflies in her stomach. Or at least feel the urge to touch him back. But she hadn't. She hadn't felt anything. With a sigh Claire closed her door.

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Peter found Sylar standing by the lake. He had been standing out here a lot ever since West had come. Peter knew why.

"Hey." He said once he was close enough.

Sylar didn't turn. "What Peter?"

"We found one of your fathers' facilities."

Sylar glanced over his shoulder with a raised eyebrow.

"Really? So what's the plan? Power attack?"

Peter shrugged. "Kassy's coming up with it now."

Sylar nodded. Peter stood beside him, looking over the lake.

"Sylar, don't be mad at Claire."

Sylar glared at him. He didn't say anything for a long minute. Finally he said "I don't know what you are talking about."

"Yes you do. When Kassy said you loved her I saw the look you gave her. I hadn't realized it went so deep. But I know now that you do. We may not be related by blood, but I think of you as a brother. You can talk to me."

Sylars shoulders slumped and he let out a sigh. "I'm not mad at her Peter. I'm hurt, but she can make her own choices. If she wants to be with that nerd instead of me she has the right."

"She has feelings for you." Peter insisted.

Sylar let out a short humorless laugh. "Yeah, sure. The more I think about it the more I feel like she went on a date with me out of pity."

"Sylar that isn't true. Claire wouldn't do that. She went on a date with you because she likes you. I think she is just confused."

Sylar shook his head. "It doesn't matter the reason. I'll give her space and time. But I can't sit here and watch them cuddle. It feels like someone is slowly twisting a knife in my back."

"If you love her you will fight for her."

Sylar frowned. "No Peter that isn't true. All that would do it hurt everybody involved. I'm going to live forever, and so will she. Chances are she will eventually want me."

Peter sighed. He didn't know what to say. He wanted to help his friend, but he was right. Giving Claire space was the best course of action.

He patted him on the back. "Do what you have to."

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It was around seven in morning when Sylar walked into the house. He had fallen asleep on the roof and had been woken by the early morning sun. Most of the people were still asleep, but he found Kassy awake in her office.

"Did you even sleep last night?" he asked.

"A few hours." She shrugged. "But I have a plan."

Sylar sat beside her. "Really? What is it?"

"I'll tell you all together. I don't like repeating myself."

Sylar rolled his eyes. She could be so annoying.

She wasn't looking at him but she still said "Don't roll your eyes at me."

He smiled. "I didn't."

"Liar."

"I thought I was the one with that ability."

"Your voice is just really easy to read."

Sylar shook his head. "I think you are just a freak."

She smiled. "I never said I wasn't.

She suddenly turned her chair around so that it was facing him. She was looking him up and down as if searching for something.

"Can I try something?"

Sylar put his elbows on his knees and frowned warily. "What?"

Without a warning she kissed him. He gasped as her mouth pressed onto his. His brain felt like it was moving in slow motion. He was so shocked he couldn't move. Her lips worked against his. For a second, he kissed her back. Then she pulled away. He felt like he couldn't breathe. He hadn't been expecting that.

"What… what the _hell_ Kassy?"

She squinted her eyes at him. "It was an experiment."

"On what? To see if you liked men?"

"No, to see if I liked you."

For some reason Sylar felt incredibly embarrassed. Since he had become Sylar, nobody had been able to get these emotions from him. Except for her, this strange wild woman.

"And?" he asked hoarsely.

"Nothing." She said, shaking her head. He sighed loudly in relief. He wasn't sure how he could have handled that. Kassy laughed.

"Well God, don't be too heartbroken."

Sylar smiled. "Don't get me wrong Kassy, I really like you. And that's really rare. But I just don't feel like that about you."

"I know." She nodded. "It's just that everybody keeps saying they see a connection between us. I wanted to find out. I mean you're a total hottie and wouldn't mind seeing you shirtless, but you're my friend and that's all you'll ever be."

"Good."

Kassy laughed again and rolled her eyes. "Seriously stop. You're breaking my heart."

Sylar smiled widely at her. As she jumped up she grabbed him by his shirt and pulled him till he was standing.

"Come on, let's wake everybody up."

"It's still kind of early."

"Yeah well we have top secret facilities that aren't going to break into themselves." She ran out the door and he followed. A half hour later everybody was crowded around the living room. Sylar sat in a chair near the window. Claire was seated by the arm of the couch. He saw West walk into the room and he stiffened. But before he could sit beside Claire, Peter dropped into the seat. Sylar wanted to hug him. West looked at Peter for a moment before sitting next to him. Kassy stood at the front of the room with her hands on her hips. She waited till everybody was seated and looking at her.

"Ok, so you all know we found a facility just like the one you were in. Well I've come up with a plan of attack."

Sylar listened as Kassy went into detail on what they were going to do. Others voiced their opinions and she listened thoughtfully. Sylar glanced over at Claire. Her eyes were moving to each person as they talked. As she looked from one to another, her eyes stopped on him. Crap. He had been caught staring. Well there was nothing he could do now. If he looked away quickly he would look like a loser. So he just continued staring, raising one of his eyebrows. She gave him a small smile. He wished she wouldn't do that, it made him want to touch her. Not able to take it he looked away. He was going to have to learn to control these emotions racing through him. When their meeting was over everybody went off to get ready. They were going to take action today. Everybody knew it was going to be dangerous but they were ready, Sylar more than most.

They didn't know if his father was going to be at this facility, but if he was, Sylar was going to face him head on. He would take joy in killing him slowly. The bastard deserved it. He didn't know how his father had survived the cancer. The last time he had seen him he had clearly been dying. Sylar shrugged to himself. It didn't matter. He would kill him this time and make sure it stuck. He was imagining all the ways he would kill his father when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He glanced down and saw Claire.

"You ok? You looked a little distracted."

He smirked. "Yeah Claire, I'm peachy."

"You've been a little distant lately. Is something wrong?"

He looked at her like she had lost mind. Was something wrong? Seriously? She went on a date with him and left for the first pimply faced jerk that showed her attention. He was hurt and miserable.

"No, I'm fine Claire."

She didn't look like she believed him, but just then West walked up.

"Hey Claire, are you going to get ready?"

"Yeah." She nodded, looking back at Sylar. He didn't understand her facial expression. Was it regretful? She walked away, being led by West. Sylar went to Kassy's office, where he was keeping his things. He didn't really have much "getting ready" to do. He would just change into a black t-shirt. They were going to leave in two hours by way of Hiro and Ando. Sylar opened to door and nearly screamed. Kassy was undressing in front of him. She was wearing nothing but her bra and underwear. This was the second time today she had put him in a compromising situation.

"Oh my God Kassy! Why aren't you dressing in your room?"

"Because the shirt I wanted was in here."

"Then why didn't you lock the door?"

She just shrugged. Sylar frowned.

"Kassy, you knew I would be coming in here. What are you doing?"

She smiled seductively. He gulped and leaned away. "Like I said, you're a hottie."

"But… but you said I was only a friend."

"You are. I don't need to have feelings for you to be attracted."

"Kassy I… I love Claire."

"Yes I know, and I really like Hiro. But we are both on the outside right now. It may be a long time before Claire comes to you. You don't need to be celibate forever. I hate seeing you so miserable. I could be a distraction. This could be like, I don't know, friends with benefits."

Sylar stared with his mouth open. "Kassy I can't!"

"Why not?"

"Because… because… I don't feel like that about you."

"Did you have feelings for any of the other women you slept with?"

Sylar thought about. Actually, he hadn't even really _liked_ any of the women he had slept with. He looked Kassy up and down. She really was beautiful.

"Won't this make things awkward between us?"

"Only if you let it." She shrugged.

He didn't know what to do. Part of him did want Kassy. She was lovely and willing and powerful. But another part of him was devoted to Claire, no matter who she was currently with.

"I need to think about it." He mumbled.

Kassy smiled. "Don't think about it for too long. I might change my mind."

She pulled on a tank top and jeans and walked out of the room. Sylar let out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding. He leaned back against the wall. What the hell was he going to do?

******* Please let me know what you think so far! What do you think about Sylar and Kassy's interactions? What do you think Claire will do? Comments are appreciated and keep me going!*******


	16. Chapter 16

**A new chapter after just one day? I know! I couldn't contain myself. I think I have a problem. Anyways, let me know what you think! **

**Chapter 16**

**Old Friends **

Kassy walked around the house, making sure everyone was ready. Had she seriously just offered herself to Sylar? Why had she done that? She had felt so bad watching him watch Claire. To be honest she _hadn't_ expected him to walk in on her. When he did, she had just reacted. She was attracted to him, that wasn't a lie. But now he was going to think she was some kind of whore. She made a face. That really wasn't how she wanted to present herself. Besides, did she even want to sleep with him? The whole time he would be thinking of Claire.

Kassy saw Hiro waiting near the window. If Hiro would have her she would definitely choose him. He was so cute. When he saw her staring he waved shyly.

"Hi Kassy." He smiled as she walked over.

"Are you ready?" she smiled.

He nodded. "Yes. All I have to do is teleport you into the place."

"Well yeah, but it's really important. You have to get us into a specific room."

Hiro nodded. On impulse Kassy leaned forward and kissed his cheek. Hiro's eyes went wide. Kassy longed to kiss his mouth, but she didn't need him being distracted on such an important day. Hiro smiled, looking embarrassed.

"So, Ando thinks you like me. I told him that he was crazy." He laughed a little, staring at her.

Kassy's face was blank as she tried to avoid hitting him. After a moment she gave him a tight smile.

"Yeah, crazy."

Kassy turned away and saw that everybody who was coming had gathered around. They looked like they were ready. Claire stood beside West, looking anxious. Peter was watching Emma, who wasn't coming. Sylar stood in the back, a slight frown on his face as he watched her. She forced her face to not blush and smiled seductively instead. She was great at this façade.

"Are you all ready?" she asked.

Everyone nodded. Ando stepped forward and stood beside Hiro. Kassy took his hand and Claire took hers. When everyone was holding hands she turned to Hiro.

"Let's go."

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When Sylar opened his eyes they were in a dark room. Stepping away from the others he let his electricity light up the room. The room was large and gray and filled with cleaning supplies.

"The utility room." Kassy smiled. "Let's get into our groups."

Besides Hiro, ten of them had come. They would be splitting up into groups of five. Sylar would be with Kassy, Matt, Tracy, and West. Sylar cringed at the last one. The other group would be Claire, Mohinder, Ando, Edgar, and Peter. When they were standing in their groups Kassy turned to them.

"Ok, Hiro you stay here. When we collect all of the specials we will meet here. Don't be late. From what I can tell I think there are six special on this floor. I think there is another six on the floor above us. My group will take the top floor."

Everybody nodded. Sylar followed Kassy to the door and the rest of the group followed. When Kassy opened the door a bright light flowed through.

"We will go first. Follow us a minute later." She whispered. Turning, she ran through the door and Sylar followed. Their group moved quickly and quietly through the halls. At each corner Kassy would stop and hold up her hand for them to halt. After she made sure it was clear she would wave them on. But after a few corners it was inevitable to meet resistance. As they ran around a corner three men stepped out of a room. At the sight of them they raised their guns. Kassy raised her hands instinctually and fired off one of her powers.

Sylar had never seen anything like it. One second the men were standing there, the next they were a pile of mush. Kassy made a face.

"Huh. I hadn't tried that on a human yet. I disintegrated there bones."

Even for Sylar it was disgusting. They ran around the piles of human mush. They ran up a flight of stairs and stopped. There were two ways down to go in the hall.

"Ok, Matt and Tracy go that way. Get all the specials you find out. Sylar, West, and I will go the other way."

Matt and Tracy nodded, going the way Kassy had said. Sylar followed Kassy. They walked quickly, keeping close to the wall. Kassy stopped at a door.

"This one!" she exclaimed excitedly. She began to fiddle with the lock.

"Over here too!" West said, running to another door.

Everything that followed seemed to happen in slow motion. A man in black gear stepped around the corner and raised his gun. He was pointing it straight at West. With Sylars power he could figure out exactly what was going to happen. The man would shoot off three bullets and they would hit West in the back and in the neck. He would die almost instantly. If he died, everything would be easier. He wouldn't have to worry about Claire wanting him or about having to wait for Claire. He could have her all to himself. It wasn't like he was killing him. He wouldn't feel guilty and Claire could never blame him. It was perfect. But Claire. She had already lost so many people. She had been hurt so many times it was hard to count. Most of the time it had been him that had done the hurting. But not this time. He stepped behind West. The bullets hit his back and he cried out. It hurt. He lifted his hand and cut the man's throat. West sun around and stared with wide eyes.

"You saved me."

Sylar winced as the bullets fell from his back. "Yeah well if you weren't such a dumb ass I wouldn't have had too. Next time don't expect me to be here."

West nodded quickly. They retrieved the specials that were on that floor as quickly as possible. Sylar worked on the last door as West and Kassy helped the other two they had found. When he walked into the room he saw it was very dimly lit. He squinted, trying to see. The wave of heat hit him full on. He staggered back as he felt right side of his face melt. He cried out even as it began to heal. He grabbed the figure that tried to run past him. Pinning him to a wall he glared. And then he stepped back in shock.

"Luke?" he frowned.

The boy glared at him before he recognized him.

"Sylar! Oh my god it's you!" he cried happily. It had been nearly ten years since he had seen the kid. Wait, no, that was wrong. It had only been two.

"Man, what are you doing here?" Luke smiled.

"I'm, well, some friends and I are breaking you all out."

"Sweet!" Luke cried, running into the hall.

As they walked out Kassy and West approached, followed by two others. Sylar saw Luke give Kassy an appreciative look.

"Let's find the others." Kassy suggested. Sylar nodded and they ran down the hall. Sylar and Luke followed at the back of the group.

"So who's that?" he whispered, nodding at Kassy.

"Um, that's Kassy. She sort of saved the rest of us when we were locked up in a place like this."

"She's a total babe."

"I guess." Sylar shrugged.

"Have you banged her yet?" Luke smirked.

"No, I haven't." Sylar glared.

"Do you mind if I call dibs? I wouldn't mind hitting that." Luke laughed, staring at Kassy's butt.

Sylar was going to punch him. He had forgotten how annoying the kid could be. Suddenly he got an idea that made him smile wickedly.

"Hey, why don't you tell her just how bad you want to _hit_ that. I'm sure it would be a total turn on for her."

Luke smiled widely. "Yeah, I think I will."

Sylar had to force himself to not laugh. This kid was in for a rude awakening.

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Luke followed the group quickly down the hall. They met up with some of Sylars other friends. Luke didn't bother to hear their names. He really didn't care. He just wanted to get the hell out of there. They said they were going to go find the other group, so apparently there were more of them. As they walked along he found himself close to Kassy. He smiled at his opportunity. In a swift move he pressed her against the wall. She looked at him in shock.

"Hey there sweet thing." He smiled.

"Hi, get the hell off me." She frowned.

"Don't be like that. I just wanted to tell you that you have a fine ass and I would love get down on that."

She made a face. "No."

His anger bubbled up inside him. Did she think she was better than him or something? He wasn't just going to be rejected like that. He would show the bitch some manners. Grabbing her upper arm, he burned her. She hissed in pain and surprise. He smirked. He would show her his power. She would do what he said or he would hurt her. But the look she suddenly gave him froze him to the core. She looked up slowly, her large eyes burning with an intensity that he had never seen. Her lip curled up in a sneer. With a small movement of her hand he was thrown backwards. He hit the wall so hard he thought he would black out. But he didn't. She stepped forward slowly.

"I really don't take well to threats." She said through clenched teeth. "Now, if you ever touch me again, or disrespect me in any way, I will rip out your spleen and feed it to you. Is that understood?"

He nodded, gasping for breath. Her face suddenly changed back. She smiled pleasantly at him and let him drop.

"Great! Now that we have an understanding, let's catch up with the others." She said brightly, running away. Luke stumbled for a moment before running after her.

In his whole life he had only respected and feared one person, and that was Sylar. He had never respected a woman before. But now that had changed. He was really, truly, frightened of Kassy. Sylar had always been a little crazy, but nothing like that. Sylar was cold and calculating. The way she had gone from vicious to happy confused him. She was out of her mind and he had no doubt she would do what she had threatened. He caught up to Sylar and walked with him quickly. Sylar glanced at him and smirked. Luke felt angry when he realized Sylar had set him up.

"You knew she was crazy!" he accused.

Sylar raised his eyebrows. "What did she do?"

"She threatened to feed me my spleen!"

At this Sylar lost it. He stopped and put his hand against the wall as he broke into silent laughter.

"It's not funny! I think she would really do it!"

Sylar continue laughing. "Oh, I have no doubt about it."

"You're an asshole." Luke sneered.

Sylar straightened up. "Is that a surprise? Oh and watch your mouth."

Sylar and Luke ran to the group and made their way to the front. As they went down the stairs they came upon a surprise. There was a fight going on in front of them, specials against the guards. There looked to be about ten specials fighting twenty guards. As Luke stepped out a girl was impaled through the chest just two feet away. The guard had shoved a long piece of pipe through her chest.

"Claire!" Sylar shout, running to her. He killed the guard quickly.

It looked like the pipe had hit the girl in the heart, because blood was flowing everywhere. She made a pained face as she grasped the pipe. Sylar began pulling it. Despite what everybody believed, Luke did still have feelings. He could see that his hero had feeling for the girl as he pulled the pipe out and supported her. The girl was going to die. There was no way she could survive that. He reached out and put a hand on Sylars shoulder.

"I'm sorry man, she's not going to make."

Luke expected Sylar to look angry or sad. Instead he just rolled his eyes. The girl spoke up in a much stronger voice than he expected.

"Speak for yourself."

Luke's mouth dropped open as the girl straightened up. There was a large hole in her shirt where the pipe had gone through, but the wound was quickly healing. An invincible girl?

"Cool." He smiled.

"Hurry up! Let's go!" he heard Kassy shout. He turned and saw all the other guards were dead. He followed them down the halls. He heard shouting and knew that more guards must be coming. They all ran into a room that quickly became crowded with the twenty of them. At the back of the room stood a small Asian man. What the hell? How were they going to get out of here?

"Hold hands!" Kassy instructed.

Luke made a face. Where they going to sing campfire songs or something? Sylar rolled his eyes and grabbed his shoulder. Luke heard yelling outside the door and knew they were done for. But then everything went black.

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Sylar let go of Luke the second they appeared in Laura's front yard. He walked away and heard Kassy telling all of the new comers what was going on. Sylar saw West pick Claire up in a hug. West kissed Claire's forehead as he sat her back down. Sylar watched as he ran a finger over the hole in Claire shirt. Claire said something to him, but Sylar couldn't hear. He turned away. He didn't want to see it. He walked back towards the house.

"Hey, wait up!" he heard Luke call out. Sylar rolled his eyes. Luke was definitely going to the other house.

"Hey. So, what, is she your girl or his?" he asked, nodding to Claire. Sylar glared at him, showing that he was on a slippery slope.

"She's not mine."

Luke raised one eyebrow. "But you wish she was."

"Seriously? Am I that blatantly obvious?" Sylar asked, throwing his hands in the air.

"Kinda." Luke shrugged. "So you want her, but she's his girlfriend?"

"She's not his girlfriend." Sylar said quickly. "I don't know what they are."

"Dude, why don't you just kill him?"

"Because that would hurt Claire." Sylar shrugged.

Luke looked at him like he was crazy. "So, you actually really like her? You don't just want to bang her?"

Sylar sneered at him.

"Huh, I didn't know that was possible."

"Believe it or not, I'm not a heartless killer anymore. I'm still a killer, I just have limits."

"Well yeah I figured since all of these guys aren't dead." Luke shrugged.

Sylar shrugged. "I really do like some of them."

"That one looks like a goody good." Luke frowned, pointing at Peter.

Sylar laughed. "Peter is special. He is the one got me grounded. He helped pull me out of my insanity. I think of him as a brother."

Luke raised an eyebrow. "So you fell for a girl and got a best friend and now you're week."

Sylar glared as he lifted his hand, sending Luke into the wall.

"Ok ok, you aren't week!" Luke gasped. "You're still the great and powerful Sylar."

Sylar smiled. "You better believe it."


	17. Chapter 17

**So I know some of you jokingly asked for a new chapter everyday but... yeah I'm putting a new chapter up already. This on is going to be rated M for... stuff. Let me know what you think of this one because I really like this chapter. Your comments make me happy!**

**Chapter 17**

**Changes**

Claire sat on her bed while she wrote in her journal. Ever since she had come here she had been writing in it. It helped her cope with the flood of emotions that were constantly flowing through her. As she wrote about her day she heard the door creak open. Looking up she saw West smiling down at her.

"Hey." She smiled back.

"Whatcha writing?"

"Oh, just stuff." She shrugged.

"About today?" he asked, examining her.

"Well yeah. It was a pretty exciting day."

"Yeah, it was." He laughed.

"So did you need something?"

He raised his eyebrows. "Can't I just want to see you?"

"No." she said with a playful smile.

"Oh yeah?"

He leaped forward, pinning her to her bed as he began to tickle her sides. She squirmed frantically as she laughed, trying to shake him off.

"West stop it!" she cried breathlessly.

He stopped and smiled, though now she realized he was just lying on top of her. She cleared her throat uncomfortably.

"You know Claire; I hadn't realized I still had feelings for you. But I do."

"Oh?" she asked, looking away from his face.

"Yeah." He nodded.

She looked back at his earnest tone. He seemed to realize now was his chance as he leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. She wasn't all that surprised when he did. It was obvious that this was what he had wanted to do. Claire kissed him back, leaning up slightly. She heard a creek near the door but didn't pay it any mind. She knew she should be thinking how soft his lips were or how gentle he was. But that's not was she was thinking at all. All she could see was Sylar. The way he had pressed his mouth firmly to hers. The way he had held her up against the wall. The way his hands felt in her hair. She knew this wasn't what she should be thinking about as West kissed her, but she couldn't stop the flow of images going through her mind. After a minute she pushed him away, not able to handle the emotions she was feeling in that moment. West slid away, smiling sheepishly.

"Sorry, I just had to." He shrugged.

Unable to look at him, she just nodded. She stared at the wall for a moment before standing up.

"I think I need some air." She said as she walked out the door.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sylar knew it was stupid, but he wanted to check on Claire. She had had worst damage done to her that having a pole shoved through her. Like, say, having the top of her head chopped off. He cringed slightly at the thought. He tried to push the image out of his mind as he approached Claire's door. He was having difficulty with it until he looked through the gap in the door. His mind froze. West was lying on top of Claire with his mouth pressed against hers. For a crazy second Sylar hoped he was doing it against her will. But then he saw her hand lightly resting on his cheek, accepting the kiss. He felt sick.

He stumbled away as quietly as he could, trying to breath. He closed his eyes, trying to not see it. But when he closed his eyes there it was, plastered to the inside of his lids. He knew he was being ridiculous. He knew that this was going to happen when he gave Claire space. He guessed a small part of him had hoped she would still pick him. He stumbled quickly down the stairs. He had to get this out of his head. He had to be distracted. But how could he do that without killing someone? Then he knew. Kassy.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kassy walked out of her office and into the dark hall. She was examining her phone when she heard heavy breathing in front of her. Her head snapped up. Sylar was standing at the end of the hall, staring at her. His eyes were wide and hurt and a little wild.

"Sylar?" she asked a little warily.

With a strangled sound he rushed towards her. She only had a second to feel frightened as he spun her around and pressed her against the wall. Her mouth hung open slightly as she stared at him.

"Um, Sylar?"

"Quiet." He ordered, staring down at her.

She frowned. She didn't like anyone talking to her like that. She opened her mouth to give him a piece of her mind, when suddenly she couldn't. His mouth was on hers, kissing her viciously. She gasped. The first time they had kissed she had only been doing an experiment and he hadn't really kissed her back. But now he was pushing his whole body against hers. He was warm and firm and it actually felt very nice. She kissed him back, tangling her fingers in his hair. She felt his electricity spark, giving her a small shock on her back. This only made her lean into him more.

Nobody had ever been able to meet her level of intensity before, but he was threatening to surpass it. He pulled her leg up so that it hooked on his hip. His fingers dug into her hair roughly. It was like all the hormones she had been suppressing were released at once. She felt overwhelmed. His tongue was in her mouth, firmly moving the kiss along. In a swift movement he picked her up so she could wrap both legs around his waist. They were completely entangled, grasping each other desperately. Kassy heard a small gasp from near the stairs. She pulled away and dropped to the ground. Claire was staring at them with her mouth hanging open.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

As Claire walked down the stairs she tried to sort through her thoughts. Why had she been thinking of Sylar? It wasn't right. West was a perfectly great guy. He deserved her attention. She rounded the corner of the stairs and stopped. Two people were standing near the middle of the hall, kissing each other. She stepped forward curiously and gasped. It was Sylar and Kassy. Sylar had Kassy pinned tightly against the wall. Her body was wrapped around his and her mouth was moving in time with his. When Kassy heard her she pulled away and looked at her with wide eyes.

"I'm sorry." Claire said in barely more than a whisper. "Am I interrupting something?"

She knew it was a dumb question.

"No." Kassy said at the exact same time as Sylar said "Yes."

Claire looked at him. He was staring at her with a hard, controlled expression.

"I'm sorry." she muttered as she turned and ran out the front door. The night air was cool on her warm face. She stumbled to the steps and sat down. Why did she feel like crap all of a sudden? But she knew why. She had been trying to lie to herself, but now she couldn't. She had strong, unmovable feelings for Sylar. She hadn't wanted to acknowledge it, but now she had no choice. Seeing him kiss Kassy had hurt.

"Claire?"

She turned quickly to see Peter sitting in a chair on the porch. She hadn't noticed him before.

"Oh, Peter." She said, turning her face away to hide the stupid unexplainable tears that had pooled in the corners of her eyes. "I didn't see you."

"Yeah, I can see that." He said as he sat beside her. "What's wrong?"

She bit her lip. "I saw Sylar kissing Kassy.

Peter looked surprised. "Huh." He muttered.

"Yeah." She agreed.

"And you're upset about that because?" he frowned.

"Well, because I like him." She shrugged, feeling embarrassed.

For over a minute Peter was quiet. He was staring off into the distance with a small frown on his face.

"Wow." Peter said shaking his head, suddenly looking almost angry. "Claire you're unbelievable."

Claire's eyebrows shot up. "Excuse me?"

"You're joking right? I mean, Sylar does all this great stuff for you like holding you and letting you hit him while you cry about your dad and taking you out on dates and treating you like gold. Then as soon as West shows up you just toss him away like he is nothing, even though you know how he feels. Now when he shows interest in another person, mind you while you are flirting and cuddling with another guy, you get mad. Sometimes you are the most selfish person Claire."

Claire stared with her mouth open. Peter looked genuinely angry.

"I didn't know." She muttered.

"Bullshit Claire." Peter shot back. "You knew, you just didn't want to acknowledge it because then you would have to actually choose instead of toying around. He cares about you more than I've ever seen someone care about another person and you treat him like crap."

Claire was beginning to feel worse and worse. Peter had never talked to her like this before. She wrapped her arms around her legs as the tears flowed freely.

"If Sylar wants to be happy with someone else you have no right to be upset about it. Why did you push him away to begin with?" he said, glaring at her. Claire felt herself lose it.

"Because I was scared!" she screamed. "I was scared that I was falling for a man that I had hated. I was scared that I had feelings for a man who had tormented me and ripped me apart. I was scared that I was falling in love with a monster!"

She covered her face with her hands as she sobbed. There it was. It was all out there.

"I tried to push him away so that I could love somebody who was good. Someone who was gentle and safe."

"And?" Peter asked.

"It's not working. Every time I see Sylar I want him more and more. I can't control it. I mean, I do have feelings for West. I just don't know if it's enough. Every time West touches me I imagine Sylar. Peter, I don't know what to do."

"Do what your heart says." He said gently now as he wrapped his arm around her. She leaned into him.

"It doesn't matter anymore. He doesn't want me now. I've ruined it."

She heard Peter laugh quietly. "No you didn't Claire. Sylar still cares about you. He is just hurt. I think he wants to make you jealous."

Claire looked up at him. She wanted to believe him, but she wasn't sure. Would she be able to fix this? She couldn't compete with Kassy. She sighed as she let Peter hold her. She just needed time to think.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sylar watched Claire as she ran out the door. Part of him wanted to chase after her and tell her that he loved her and that he was sorry. Another part of him wanted to hurt her. Kassy looked up at him and frowned.

"What happened, Sylar?"

He frowned, refusing to look at her. "I saw Claire kissing West."

When he glanced at her he expected to see pity. Instead he saw understanding. He also saw something like determination cross her face. She grasped the front of his shirt and pulled him up the stairs. He staggered quickly after her. She pulled him to her room and shoved him roughly onto her bed as she closed and locked the door. She looked back at him with a seductive smile. He felt something flutter in his stomach. All of the other times he had been with a woman, he had been in control. He had always been the one overpowering them. But now as she stood over him, looking down with those large predatory eyes, he felt like prey. He kind of liked it. He smiled at her, letting the monster show a little, and promising that this would be the best she had ever had. He leaned forward and pulled her on top of him. She straddled his hips with her legs he thrust his hips slightly, rubbing against her. He was unmistakably hard. He needed her. He looked up, expecting to see the animal that he usually saw. But it was gone.

For the first time ever, she looked nervous. She was biting her lip and looking him up and down.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" she mumbled.

Sylar slumped back on the bed, feeling like someone had filled him with led. She didn't want him. Not really. He looked to the side as he spoke.

"If you don't want to sleep with me you don't have to Kassy."

"No no no, it's not that!" she assured him, waving her hands in front of her. "It's just that, well, I'm scared."

Sylar recoiled. Oh. Oh God. She was afraid of him. After all the times she had assured him she wasn't, she was. Maybe not in the daylight with people around, but here in the dark bedroom she was frightened. It felt like she had full on punched him in the stomach. He crossed his arms over his chest, trying to look unthreatening.

"Kassy I promise, _I promise _I won't hurt you. Please don't be afraid of me." He whispered.

Kassy's eye widened. "Oh my gosh Sylar no!" she cried as she leaned forward and placed her hands on either side of his face. "I'm sorry! I should have realized you would misunderstand that."

She smacked a hand to her face. "Sylar I'm not afraid of _you_. It's just that…" she trailed off, biting her lip.

"What Kassy?" he frowned.

She opened and closed her mouth several times, as though trying to get words out that were stuck in her throat.

"Kassy what's the matter?"

"I'm a virgin!" she cried.

Sylar leaned back in shock. Oh, well. That wasn't what he had been expecting. He raised his eyebrows.

"Um, how?"

"How? I think it's pretty obvious how I'm a virgin." Kassy glared.

"No that's not what I meant. It's just that you're so…" he waved his hand over her body.

"What Sylar?" she frowned. "Slutty?

"No!" he cried in shock. That wasn't what he meant at all. She honestly wasn't in the least bit slutty. He searched for other describing adjectives.

"Wild, fun, brave." He settled on.

Kassy's expression suddenly became very sad. "I'm a great actress aren't I?"

Without thinking he sat up and hugged her closely. She accepted it, wrapping her arms around him. It was a bit awkward with her legs still wrapped around his waist. For some reason Sylar had felt like he had never understood somebody more. He felt an inexplicably strong connection to Kassy as he held her to him. After a moment she pulled away and looked him up and down.

"Just because I'm a virgin doesn't mean we can't do this. I have a feeling you would be a great choice for a first time."

Sylar touched her face gently. It was one thing when he saw her as predatory sexual beast. But now all he could see was the shy girl that was secretly hurting on the inside.

"No Kassy, you don't want me as a first time. You want it to be with someone you love. I wish mine had been with someone I actually cared about."

"I do love you." Kassy insisted.

"But not in that way." Sylar said, shaking his head.

After a moment she nodded. "Not in that way."

Sylar lay back on the bed with his hands behind his head and sighed. They were all so screwed up. Kassy lay against him with her head resting on his chest. Perhaps yesterday that would have felt awkward, but now it just felt comforting. He let himself pull a finger through her hair.

"We are so weird." She laughed.

"Yeah." He smiled.

"I don't think normal people do this."

"We are so far from normal it's ridiculous."

Kassy burst out laughing, her whole body shaking. Sylar joined in. After a moment she stopped and looked at him in surprise.

"Do you know how long it's been since I laughed like that? It's been years. Since before my mom died."

Sylar thought about it. "Yeah same here. I mean I've laughed, but I've never felt this free." He looked down at her and smiled.

He knew then that their relationship had changed. They would never be romantic and he was completely ok with this. He had only known her a few weeks, yet she was suddenly one of his best friends. He sat up and hugged her again, burying his face in her hair. She didn't question it, just hugged him back.

"What are we going to do now?" she whispered.

"I guess we just go on living our lives."

"You should tell Claire how you feel."

He frowned. "It doesn't matter now. She chose West."

"Why do think that?"

"Um, because I saw them kissing."

"Yeah and she saw you kissing me, but that doesn't mean I'm the one you want."

Sylar just shook his head. It wasn't the same.

"Well Maybe you should tell Hiro how you feel. I think the best thing to do is just get it out there and tell him bluntly."

She made a face. "I don't want to be rejected."

He nodded. "Then we have the same problem."

She smiled at him. "We are such losers. We act tough and cool, like we know what we are doing but really we are just desperate for someone to tell us they care. That we're special."

He stared in surprise.

"I used to be obsessed with being special."

"I know." she nodded. "But Sylar, you are special. Not because of your powers or your impressive ability collection. Because it's just who you are."

He smiled shyly. "You like who I am?"

"Yes Gabriel, I do."

His mouth dropped open in shock. She had used his real name so casually. She had never said his real name before.

"That's not my name." he mumbled.

"Yes it is." She insisted. "You like to think you are all Sylar, but you aren't. You shouldn't get so offended when people call you Gabriel. These emotions that I'm seeing right here are all him. And I love it. Don't worry; I won't call you it in public. But when we are alone don't be surprised if I call you Gabriel. It's just out of affection."

He smiled. "Ok Kassy."

"Anna." She said quietly.

"What?" he frowned.

She sighed, looking embarrassed. "My full name Anna Kassandria Burke."

He was speechless. How had he not known that?

"I think it's only fair that if I'm going to call you Gabriel, you should be able to call me by my real name."

He stared at her for a second before smiling widely.

"Ok then, Anna."


	18. Chapter 18

**I'm sorry for taking so long on updating! Between school, work, and Merlin I have been insanely busy! I'll try to update more often. Please leave your comments because I love to hear what you think! **

**Chapter 18**

** High Society **

When Sylar woke up the sun was just beginning to rise. He shifted slightly in the bed, trying to remember where he was. He looked over and smiled. Kassy was lying beside him on her back with arms thrown over her head. He had never seen her asleep before and it was nice. There was no fire or anger or craziness. She was just a young woman. He shifted the bed as he sat up and Kassy stirred. Her eyes fluttered open and she looked up at him. Her face broke into a smile as she rolled onto his stomach.

"Morning." She mumbled.

"Good morning. You know I've never woken up with a woman I hadn't slept with the night before."

"Well I'm glad to be providing you with new experiences. I have never woken up with a man period."

"Oh, and how is it?"

She laughed. "Well I always expected it to be after a night of love making and I expected more kissing."

He smiled for a moment before getting an idea. He leaned forward slowly and placed a kiss on her forehead. She smiled as she sat up.

"Thanks. My little brother always used to do that."

He nodded and patted her hand. He wasn't sure what had gotten into him. He was never this caring and compassionate. He would be this way with Claire if she would let him. Kassy had broken him.

"There's nothing wrong with you." She smiled.

He made a face. "I think there is. Even when I was Gabriel I was never like this."

"Well maybe you are evolving." Kassy shrugged as she climbed out of bed. She went to the mirror and began to brush her long hair. He watched her for a moment before standing up and stretching.

"I'm gonna go make something to eat. I'm starving."

"I'll join you." She said as she tossed her brush down.

"You don't have to follow me everywhere."

"Sure I do." She said, poking him in the ribs as they walked into the hall.

"Oh, hey guys."

They both looked up to see Peter standing in the middle of the hall. His eyes were wide and his eyebrows were halfway up his forehead. Sylar realized what it must look like for them both to be leaving the bedroom at the same time. Kassy seemed oblivious as she waved at him.

"Hey Peter."

"Um, busy night?" he asked awkwardly.

She shrugged. "It was moderate."

"Right." He nodded.

"Well I'm gonna go start some bacon." She said as she skipped away.

Sylar and Peter just stared at each other for a minute.

"So you and Kassy are for real then?"

"Huh?"

"Well I thought you just kissed her to make Claire jealous but I see that you took it a little farther than kissing. You just need to be careful, getting Kassy pregnant wouldn't help anything."

Sylar gave Peter a withering look. "First off, I'm smart enough to not get a girl pregnant. Second, we aren't sleeping together."

Peter looked like he really didn't believe him. "Sure Sylar, you just slept in the same bed with a beautiful willing woman who won't reject you and you didn't sleep with her."

"I didn't!" Sylar insisted. "I was going to but we both decided against it. God you make me sound like some creep who wants to climb into bed with everyone."

Peters face softened. "So you and Kassy really didn't have sex?"

"No. I don't think of her in that way. At least not anymore."

Peter's eyes narrowed as he tried to figure out what that meant. "Ok Sylar I believe you."

"Ok, good." Sylar said, crossing his arms.

They stared at each other awkwardly for a second.

"Well I'm going to go eat." Sylar said.

"Yeah, me too." Peter nodded.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Claire sat on the couch and flipped through TV channels. She was trying her best to not think about Sylar. All thoughts of him did were confuse and upset her. Of course he chose that moment to walk in and sit on the other side of the couch. She tried very hard not to sigh. The tension between them was so thick Claire felt like she couldn't breathe. She refused to look at him and instead flipped faster through the channels. He sighed in irritation.

"Claire you can't even see what's on, you're going too fast."

"Don't tell me what I can't do!" she snapped.

He frowned. "Claire stop being ridiculous."

"I'm not being ridiculous." She glared.

"Why are you mad at me?"

She pushed herself further into the couch. She knew she was being stupid. She had no reason to be mad at him. She was the one who had pushed him away, but she was too proud to admit it.

"I'm not mad." She said quietly.

She could feel him staring at her. She wished he would look away.

"Claire I'm sorry for what you saw last night."

She felt her face redden. "Why would I care?"

"Come on Claire. We went on a date. But I get it. You choose West."

She finally looked at him. Had she chose West? She hadn't given him any signal to show otherwise. But honestly she hadn't decided anything.

"Sylar." She softly.

He looked away from the TV and stared at her. His expression was smooth but his eyes held something that made Claire's stomach flutter. A small smile played at his lips.

"Claire, I-" he began, but he was interrupted by Kassy bursting into the room with an excited look on her face.

"Get up! We have work to do!"

"What are you talking about?" Sylar frowned.

Kassy held up a piece of paper. "We are going to a benefit ball."

"Why the hell would we do that?" Sylar asked.

"_Because_" she said "The hosts of it are two of Samson's benefactors."

"So? We just broke into one of their facilities; do we really need to go to this?"

"Sylar, we can never have too much information. You should know that. We need get ready because this is tonight."

"Tonight?" Sylar cried, sitting forward. "We don't have any time to prepare."

"What's there to prepare for? These aren't fighters they're rich people. We go in, get them alone, and question them. So go make yourself presentable. You come with me." She said, holding her hand out to Claire.

Claire stared at her. All she could see when she looked at Kassy was Sylar holding her against the wall. How could Kassy stand there so casually and offer her hand? Well, probably because Kassy wasn't petty and didn't care. Claire slowly took her hand. She noticed Sylar staring intently between them. Kassy pulled her away towards the stairs. Once they reached Kassy's room Claire stopped in the door way. She watched as Kassy dug through her closet. Claire examined her closely. Her tall lean figure was one you would imagine a Greek goddess to have. Her dark hair was full and pretty and would make even the best hair model jealous. Claire absently ran a hand through her own blonde hair.

The thought of competing with Kassy for Sylar was frightening. Maybe she should just settle with West. He was nice and kind and completely sane. He was everything a normal girl wanted in a guy. She wished she was normal. Besides, did she even want to compete with Kassy? She said she liked Hiro but that lip lock with Sylar said otherwise. She didn't want to fight with Kassy. Kassy was nice and had helped them so much.

"Claire?"

Claire snapped out of her thoughts. Kassy was staring at her expectantly.

"Oh, um, sorry what?"

Kassy smiled patiently. "I asked if you liked this dress."

Claire looked at the dress on the bed and her eyes widened. It was a floor length red dress with a split all the way up to the hip.

"Wow. Yeah it's nice."

"Good because you're wearing it." She smiled as she tossed it at her.

Claire caught it and frowned. "Kassy, why am I coming?"

"What do you mean?" Kassy asked.

"Well I get why you and Sylar and Peter would go but why bring me along? There are plenty of others here who would be more helpful in a fight."

"That's true." Kassy nodded "But like I said before, you even Sylar out."

"After last night I'm pretty sure that you are the one who evens him out."

Kassy suddenly looked embarrassed. "Claire I'm sorry for what you saw. And actually I have the opposite effect on him. I think I make him more reckless."

Claire rubbed a finger over the dress, not looking up. "Did you sleep with him?"

Claire cursed herself. Why did she ask that? She knew she wouldn't like the answer. She was surprised when Kassy very firmly said "No."

Claire glanced up. She didn't know how, but somehow she knew she was telling the truth. She let out a breath.

"You should tell him how you feel."

Claire bit her lip. "I don't know how I feel."

"Don't be a liar."

Claire frowned. "I'm not lying."

"Yes you are. You are even lying to yourself."

Claire turned away. She didn't want to have this conversation right now. She held up the dress.

"Well, I'm going to go get ready."

"No, get ready in here. I'll help you." Kassy smiled.

For some reason this made Claire feel nervous.

Two hours later Claire stood looking in the mirror. Kassy had certainly used some magic. Her golden hair was curled into a thick beautiful mane. The red dress was tight yet comfortable and her makeup made her look like someone out of a magazine. The red lipstick was bright against her pale skin. She wore black heels that gave her an extra three inches. Kassy had already left the room to talk with Peter. She ran a hand gently over her forehead. She spun when someone cleared their throat. Of course it was him. He stood against the door frame in a black tuxedo with his hair perfectly combed back. He looked like he had just stepped out of a James Bond movie. Why did he have to look like that? He stared intently at her with a serious expression. Claire fidgeted. Did he not like it?

"It's a bit much, I know." She mumbled.

Sylar slowly shook his head. "You look beautiful."

Claire's heart rate increased and she stared at him with wide eyes. "Thanks." She said breathlessly. "Um I like your bowtie."

He smirked. "Yeah, well, bowties are cool."

Kassy bound into the room with Peter behind her. Of course she looked like a dark angel in her long black dress.

"Ready?" she asked.

"I don't see why we have to do this." Sylar grumbled.

"Because I said so." Kassy said, sticking her tongue out.

"It just seems like over kill. I think the only reason we are doing it because you like to play dress up."

Kassy smiled. "True, I do like dressing up. But we are doing this because we need to be one step ahead of Samson. I am being tactical."

Sylar rolled his eyes. "Whatever you say."

"I'm borrowing Hiro's powers for the night, so this will be more convenient. Everyone take my hand."

They all held her hands. With a smile she blinked and they were gone. Claire stumbled slightly when she opened her eyes. They were in the middle of a large garden. Claire turned and saw a huge mansion behind her.

"Let's go." Kassy smiled.

Two guards were standing at the door.

"Your invitation please." He said, holding out his hand.

"I already showed you our invitation." Kassy smiled.

The guards stared blankly for a moment before smiling. "Of course. Go on in."

Claire raised her eyebrows as they walked in. "You got Matts power?"

Kassy nodded. "He said I could borrow it for the night."

They walked into a huge ballroom filled with high class people. An instrumental band was playing on one side of the hall.

"Blend in." Kassy whispered before dragging Peter away.

Claire stood awkwardly beside Sylar. A waiter approached them with a tray. "Champagne?"

"Yes, thank you." Sylar said in a smooth British accent. Claire raised an eyebrow at him as she took a glass as well.

"Really?" she asked.

He shrugged. "It's a good disguise."

Claire rolled her eyes and drank her champagne. She glanced around the room.

"Would you like to dance?"

Claire frowned at him. "Why?"

"Because we will look suspicious just standing here staring around."

Claire pressed her lips together. She supposed he was right. She set her glass onto a table and nodded. He escorted her out on to the dance floor.

"Do you even know how to dance?" she frowned.

He smiled as he pulled her close to him. "Exceptionally."

He began to pull her around the floor. They spun and twirled with exceptional grace. At times he would lift her completely off the floor so that it felt like she was dancing on air. When the song stopped she smiled breathlessly.

"How did you learn to dance like that?"

"My mother forced me to go to ballroom dancing classes with her when I was fourteen." He shrugged.

She laughed. "Will the wonders never cease?"

He looked like he wanted to say something, but instead just shrugged. Claire turned and saw two people approaching them. She knew immediately that this was who they were here to see. Mary and Jonathan Cohagan were two of Samson's wealthy benefactors.

"Hello." Mary smiled. "We have not been introduced."

"Yes, I am Sir Gabrielle and this is my beautiful fiancée Anna."

"It is a pleasure to meet you." Jonathan said as he kissed her hand."

Claire just smiled. She knew she couldn't fake a proper British accent. Sylar had made this very difficult.

"My wife to be is of course American." Sylar laughed.

Claire sighed with relief. "It is lovely to meet you. This is a beautiful party you are throwing."

"Thank you." Mary beamed. "We must mingle with the rest of the guests but it was lovely to meet you."

"Yes, lovely." Sylar agreed.

Mary and Jonathan moved off into the crowd.

"Kassy is crazy. We aren't going to get anything from them. Samson is just using them for their money." Sylar grumbled.

"Maybe." Claire shrugged.

They spent the rest of the evening dancing and mingling. It was incredibly boring. Claire was glad she couldn't feel pain because she was sure her feet would be killing her. Around midnight Claire felt tiredness coming over her. She dropped into a chair beside Sylar.

"I don't think I'm cut out for high society." She grumbled.

"I don't know, you look pretty good."

Claire rolled her eyes. "Yeah well I don't feel good. It's past my bed time."

Sylar laugh. "The fearless Claire has a bed time?"

She smiled. "It takes work to look this good."

"I know what you mean." He smirked.

Claire leaned back in her chair and felt her eye lids flutter. She really was struggling to stay awake and they hadn't even gotten around to questioning Mary and Jonathan. She felt Sylars arm wrap around her and she stiffened.

"Calm down Claire. You can just lean on me, otherwise you are going to fall off your chair. I'll wake you when Kassy and Peter are ready."

Claire looked at him unsurely. He gave a reassuring smile. Claire decided it was her best option so she laid her head against his shoulder. Within a minute she was asleep.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sylar was trying very hard to not look at the small body pressed against him. Her breathing was soft and it tickled his chin. He couldn't help but glance down. Her blonde curls were falling against her face and her eye lids were twitching slightly. He ran a hand against her cheek to move her hair. God she was beautiful. He had to look away. It was like twisting a knife in his chest to have her so close and yet not be able to have her.

"I can really see that you love her."

Sylar looked up quickly. Jonathan was standing nearby and smiling.

"Oh, um, yeah."

"No need to be modest about it." Jonathan shrugged. "Mary is my world. What is she too you?"

For a second Sylar considered lying or brushing him off. But why should he? He was supposed to be engaged to her, and engaged people talked about their loved ones.

"She is everything. She is the first thing on my mind when I wake up and the last thing I think about when I go to sleep."

Jonathan nodded. "I know how that is. Make sure she knows it."

Sylar glanced away. Yeah right. All telling Claire how deeply he felt would do is make her uncomfortable around him. He glanced across the room and saw Kassy and Peter. She was gesturing urgently for him to come to them. He looked down at Claire. Should he wake her or leave her?

"She'll be fine for a couple minutes if you want to talk to your friends." Jonathan smiled.

Sylar nodded and slowly slid Claire so that she was lying on the chairs. He moved quickly across the floor.

"What is it?" he asked Kassy.

"It's getting late. I think we should set the trap to get Mary and Jonathan alone."

Sylar nodded. "I'll ask Mary to show me to the restroom and you do the same with Jonathan.

Kassy smiled and nodded, looking behind him. Suddenly she was frowning. "Where is Claire?"

Sylar spun around. The chairs where Claire had been laying were empty. Claire was gone.


	19. Chapter 19

**New chapter! I really like this one so let me know what you guys think! **

**Chapter 19**

**Letting Go **

"Claire? Claire! Where is she?" Sylar cried, feeling panic take over.

"Calm down, maybe she woke up and walked off." Kassy reasoned.

"No, if she woke up she would come over to us."

"What was Jonathan saying to you?" Peter asked in a barely contained tone.

"Who cares? We have to go find Claire!" Sylar said, turning away from them.

Kassy grabbed his arm. "Sylar, stop. We need to think about this. What was Jonathan saying to you?"

Sylar looked from her hand to her face with a look that said if she didn't let go he was going to make her. She seemed to decide now wasn't the time to challenge him.

"He was just asking how I felt about Claire."

"What did you tell him?"

Sylar shrugged. "What any man engaged to a woman would say. That I loved her."

Kassy groaned. "Oh Sylar. For such an intelligent man you can be stupid sometimes. You think he was just making casual conversation? He truly wanted to know what she means to you."

He felt like an idiot. Of course that's what he had been doing. "He told me to leave Claire there so I could come talk to my friend's."

"How did he know we were your friends? We haven't spoken to you all night." Kassy frowned.

Sylar cover his face with his hands. Of course. It was all clear now. He had been so caught up in Claire that he had been foolish and reckless. Why had she suddenly become so tired? They must have drugged her. Now she was gone.

"They have taken her to my father."

He felt the electricity begin to coarse over his body. He was going to lose control. He would kill everyone in here as punishment for them taking Claire.

"Sylar stop panicking. They can't have taken her far. She still has to be in the building." Kassy said in a calming voice.

With that he took off towards the hallways with Peter and Kassy following close behind him. When he reached the main corridor he quickly turned left.

"You two go the other way." He shouted over his shoulder. He didn't look back to see if they obeyed. He moved quickly, stopping only to scan the rooms he came across. She had to be somewhere. He ran down hallway after hallway. It seemed to go forever. He turned another corner and froze. Mary and Jonathan stood at the end of the hall, smiling patiently at him. He snarled as he ran towards them. They didn't move as he came nearer and that should have been his first sign. He stopped short when a cage came down around him. The bars were a strange blue color. With a sneer he raised his hand to smash them aside. Nothing happened. He tried again. Still nothing. Mary laughed.

"Oh darling, you won't be able to use your powers in there. Those bars are made of the same material they pumped into your darling Claire full of to let her feel pain. It's been modified and improved though, so now it can suppress all powers."

"What have you done with Claire?" he asked with controlled calm.

Jonathan smiled. "Oh she's here. Your father wanted to come pick her up personally. He's going to have some fun with her. I don't think he's ever had a woman he can't kill. He does like a challenge."

Sylar smashed his fists against the bars. "He isn't going to go near her!"

"I don't really think you are in a position to be making demands. Don't worry, he'll come see you. Maybe he'll even let you see her one more time." Jonathan shrugged.

"It really is sweet." Mary smiled. "The beauty and the beast. I don't think your father ever imagined you capable of love after everything you did. We were surprised as well."

Sylar laughed his most bitter laugh. "Love her? I don't love her. I don't care about any of them. The only reason I'm with them is so they can get me closer to my father. And so I can take their powers." He shrugged.

They suddenly looked unsure. "No, I can tell when a man loves a woman. I saw the way you looked at her even when you thought no one was looking."

Sylar smirked. "I really am the best actor aren't I? I was able to fool you two idiots."

Mary sneered. "Well it doesn't matter. He will take her anyways and he will take her powers. She will die."

Sylar frowned. "She can't die."

"Oh, don't you know how your father takes powers? He cuts open the head, much like you. The difference is that he sucks the power out. Only one can have the power. She will die."

Sylar felt like ice water was running through his veins. His father was going to kill Claire. He felt his power begin to quiver inside him.

"Ah, there it is. I knew it wasn't a trick. You do love her. Your father will be so pleased to know. He has been trying to think of the best way to hurt you, and I think we have found it." Mary said with a clap.

Sylar gritted his teeth as his anger began to boil over. He felt the electricity begin to run over the inside of his palms. At first it was only little bursts, but they began to grow.

"I hope he lets us be there when he kills her. It will be so satisfying."

"What the hell did I ever do to you?" Sylar shouted.

Mary stepped closer to the bars, her face contorting in rage. "What did you do to us? You killed our daughter."

"Oh?" Sylar asked, raising an eyebrow "Which one was she?"

Jonathan pounded his fist against the bars. "Our daughter was Jackie. You killed her instead of Claire."

The image flashed into his mind. He remembered it like it was yesterday. The two cheerleaders in the dark locker room. So many monumental things had happened that day. It was the first time he met Hiro Nakamura. It was the first time he fought Peter. It was the first time he saw Claire. It was strange to think of all that now. That other girl had been so insignificant. If they hadn't reminded him he probably wouldn't have remembered.

"Oh, her?" Sylar asked with a wicked smiled. "She wasn't even important. I barely even remember her."

Jonathan made a barely human sound. "You'll pay for what you did to her. You will watch at Claire dies. We will make it as slow and painful as possible. Then you will know how it feels to lose someone you love."

"I don't think so." With a last inward surge he thrust his hand out. The bars flew off their hinges and sent Mary and Jonathan flying. Mary fell unconscious as she hit the ground but Jonathan remained awake. As Sylar stepped closer to him his eyes grew with fear.

"I would kill you but I need you to give my father a message. Tell him I'm coming for him, and I'll kill him this time. He will never have Claire."

He hit him hard across the face, knocking him out. He began walking towards to the door they had been standing in front of. He stepped through and gave a loud sigh of relief. Claire was tied to a chair in the middle of the room. Her head rolled loosely on her neck and she seemed to be trying to look at him. He ran to her and placed his hands on either side of her face.

"Claire? Claire can you hear me?"

She moaned as her eyes slid past him. Whatever drug they had given her had been extremely strong. He decided she probably couldn't understand him.

"Claire honey we need to get you out of here." He untied her hands and feet as quickly as he could. He swung her up so he was cradling her. Her head drooped against him and her mouth hung open slightly with a dazed expression.

"Sylar?" she slurred.

"Yep, that's me. Your very own guardian angel."

Claire let a muffled giggle. "Get it, cuz you're Gabriel. Like the angel."

He rolled his eyes. "Yes, exactly like the angel." He had a sudden sense of déjà vu.

She giggled some more and poked at his face. "You got funny eyebrows."

He stared down at her. "Claire, are you _drunk_?"

As a response she giggled some more. Sylar sighed. Well this was just great. Just then he heard voices coming from down the hall.

"Claire? Where are you?" It was Peter.

Sylar stuck his head out the door. "In here."

Kassy and Peter hurried in. "What happened out there in the hall?" Peter frowned.

"Mary and Jonathan bit off more than they could chew."

Kassy smiled and raised her eyebrows. "You didn't kill them?"

"No. I needed them to give a message to my father."

"What's wrong with her?" Peter asked, nodding to Claire.

"Whatever drug they gave her seems to have made her drunk."

There were loud voices from out in the hall.

"And that is our cue to leave." Kassy said as she ran over to them. Sylar took her hand and held Claire. The door to the room burst open with a bang. Sylar looked up into the eyes of the man he hated most in this world. His father stared back for a second, but before he could move they were gone.

Sylar blinked at the bright lights of Laura's living room. There were several gasps at their sudden appearance.

"Oh my God, Claire!" West cried, running forward. "What happened to her?"

"She was just drugged. She needs to sleep it off." Sylar shrugged. "I'll take her up to bed."

West still looked very worried, but he nodded. Sylar pushed past everybody and headed up the stairs. Claire had momentarily fallen asleep, but she now looking around with a bewildered expression.

"Mmm, dad?" she mumbled.

Sylar felt his hear constrict for her. "No Claire, it's me."

"Sylar?"

"Yes." He nodded as he walked into her room. He laid her on her bed gently.

"Why are you always here?" she mumbled.

"I guess because I'm an idiot. And I think I'm addicted to the pain." He said truthfully. She wouldn't remember any of this anyways.

"Where's West?"

He closed his eyes. Of course she would want to know where West was. "He's down stairs."

"Good."

He opened his eyes. "Why is that good?"

Instead of answering she giggled and poked his face. He frowned and pulled her hand away. "Stop that Claire."

She pouted. "Sour puss."

He shook his head. She really was drunk. "Claire, go to sleep."

She snuggled into her blankets and seemed to do as he said. He stared at her for a moment and when he thought she was asleep he stood.

"Why do you take care of me?"

He looked down at her. Her eyes were closed but she had obviously spoken. He sighed as he reached out and touched her face.

"Because Claire, you are the sun. You are warm and bright and the center of my galaxy. But I'm Pluto. I'm cold and distant. Hell I'm not even really one of your planets. No matter how much I want to get closer to you I always seem to get further. I'm trying to be better for you. Maybe I'll never get to be with you. Maybe I will. One thing is for certain though." He sighed. "I'll never stop trying."

Claire let out a faint snore. He smiled. Leaning down he placed a kiss on her forehead. "Goodnight love."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Samson stared down at the two people in front of him. Mary and Jonathan Cohagan looked pitiful kneeling before him. He felt like a king.

"You failed me."

"No!" Mary cried. "We got them here! We even got Claire. You are the one who said that cage would work on him."

"It should have." Samson sneered.

"He is more powerful than we imagined." Jonathan said in a hushed tone, as though frightened Sylar would here.

"Well he is my son."

"But it is as you guested. He is in love with Claire. He looked completely panicked when we said you were going to kill her."

"I thought so. I saw him rescue her on those surveillance tapes back at the laboratory. The once powerful monster has been tamed. I never got to teach him that love is weakness."

Mary and Jonathan nodded quickly. Their presence was irritating him. He turned away.

"You are lucky I still have need for you funds. Now get out of my sight."

The two scampered away like the lowly rats they were. He stared out the window of his office. Twenty stories up he could see all around the city. He felt like a God. He was a God. But so was his son. That would be a problem. His son had beaten him once. Easily. That couldn't happen again. He knew what he needed. He needed Claire.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sylar backed slowly out of Claire's room. She was snoring softly and now completely asleep. He gasped and spun when he backed into someone. West was glaring daggers.

"What was that?"

Sylar felt his revulsion rise. "What was what?"

"You just kissed her goodnight!" West whispered angrily.

"It was just a kiss on the forehead." Sylar shrugged casually.

"Well I didn't like it."

"I didn't ask what you like and to be honest I don't care."

West's lip curled. "Stay away from her."

That sounded like a challenge. Sylar rose to his full height and smirked. "Or what? What are _you_ going to do about it?"

West opened and closed his mouth, looking for an answer. "Look, don't mess this up for me!"

Sylar scoffed. "Mess it up for _you?_ You are the one who showed up right after our first date and yanked her away. I had her first."

West frowned. "She isn't just some prize."

"You think I don't know that? This isn't just some game for me. This is eternity. And I want to spend it with her."

West stared at him. "You love her."

Sylar knew it wasn't a question so he didn't answer. Instead he just turned and began walking away.

"Hey, where are you going?" West called, following after him.

"Anywhere you aren't."

"I'm not done talking to you! You need to stay away from Claire. Or else next time I'll-"

Sylar spun and pinned him to the way. "I'll stay away when she tells me too."

"It should have been pretty clear to you when she kissed me."

Heat flooded Sylars faces as his anger and hurt raged inside him. "The only reason I haven't reduced you to a puddle of mush is because it would upset Claire. So I am telling you. Do. Not. Push me."

West gulped and tried to lean away. He wasn't so confident when the psycho serial killer had him pinned against the wall.

"I'm… I'm not afraid of you." He stammered.

"Oh really?" Sylar smiled. "Well you should be. I've killed more people that I can count. Powerful people. And I did it without blinking. I even killed my own mother."

West's face visibly paled.

"So the next time you threaten me, take caution. I'm not the person you want to anger."

"I just think we should leave it up to Claire." West said in barely more than a whisper.

Sylar rolled his eyes. "Of course it's up to Claire. It'll always be up to Claire." He pushed away from the wall. He felt drained and talking to this idiot wasn't going to help. He walked until he found himself in front of Kassy's door. He knocked gently. After a moment it opened and Kassy peeked out.

"Hey Sy, what's up?"

"Nothing, I just… did you just call me Sy?"

She smiled and nodded.

"Well don't. It makes me sound like a Korean pop star."

She laughed and opened to door further. "Come on in."

He walked in and dropped himself onto the bed. He lay down and slid his hands behind his head. Kassy climbed in beside him.

"So what's on your mind?"

He sighed. What _was_ on his mind? He didn't really have a reason for coming to see Kassy. To be honest he just liked talking to her.

"I don't know. You're just nice to talk to. You don't judge me or tell me all sorts of moral crap. It's refreshing."

"Well it helps that I'm as crazy as you." Kassy laughed.

Sylar smiled. "True."

Kassy snuggled down till her head was on his chest. He wasn't sure how he felt about such an intimate gesture, but he allowed it. He watched as she picked at pieces of his shirt.

"We really are messed up." She mumbled.

"Yeah, I know." he agreed.

"I think normal people are supposed to feel something when they kill others. Like maybe remorse."

"Yeah, I used to."

Kassy looked at his face. "Really?"

"Yes. Right after I killed someone for the first time. I tried to hang myself."

"What happened?"

"It didn't stick." He shrugged.

"Well I'm happy it didn't."

Sylar laughed without humor. "Yeah, well I think you are the only one. If I had just killed myself things would have been so much better for everyone else. Peter's brother wouldn't be dead. Hell, a lot of people wouldn't be dead. Who knows how far my destruction has spread. The whole reason we were all in that facility is because my father had a grudge. I've hurt people that I now care about."

Kassy shook her head. "Claire has forgiven you."

"Well I haven't." he snapped. "I know that I'm not a good person."

"Yes you are." Kassy insisted. "Maybe you weren't before, but whatever happened between you and Peter changed you."

"Oh really? I just threatened to kill West."

He expected her to be shocked but instead she just laughed. "Just threatened? Sylar, that's not surprising. We thought you were going to kill him a long time ago. There are bets on how long you'll hold out."

"Seriously? You placed bets on when I would lose it and just kill him? And you are all ok with it?"

She shrugged. "You've never let anything stand in the way of what you wanted before."

He ran his hands over his face. "Believe me, I want to. I've come pretty close. But I can't. It would hurt Claire. She deserves the future she wants. Even if that isn't with me."

"Sylar honey, you deserve happiness too."

"Yeah, and I will someday. But it's not going to come by forcing Claire to be with me. I think… I think that I need to give Claire up for now."

Kassy sat up and looked at him. "Really?"

"Yes. It'll be easier if I accept that I can't have her right now. She can be with West and I will let them be happy together. When he is old, I'll still be here, waiting for her."

"That's a very noble thing to do."

He smiled. "Nobody has ever called me noble before."

"I know this can't be easy for you. But maybe it is for the best."

Sylar nodded. "I'll tell her tomorrow."


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

**Letting Go**

Claire opened her eyes slowly. The sun was shining brightly through her window so she had to shield her eyes. She was extremely confused. How had she gotten here? She tried to remember what had happened the night before. She remembered dancing with Sylar. Then she had gotten tired. Everything after that had been a blur. Had she slept right through the action? She vaguely remembered being carried. Something about the sun? She wasn't sure. She climbed out of bed and went to the mirror. Her hair was a crazy mess of half curls. She yanked a brush through it, pulling out the tangles. There was a light knock at her door. She turned and saw Laura walking in.

"Hey Claire, how are you feeling?"

"A little confused, but other than that I'm fine." Claire shrugged.

"Good." Laura smiled. "I'll have Peter explain what happened last night."

"Alright, thanks."

"Well anyways, I just wanted to give you these."

Claire took the small package in Laura's hand. "Pictures?"

"They're yours. I found the camera and decided to go get them developed for you."

Claire slid some of them out. "Oh! These are the ones I took on my day out with Sylar."

"I know. Well come on down stairs when you're ready. I'm going to make an early lunch."

Once Laura left Claire sat on her bed. It seemed like a lifetime ago that she had taken these pictures. She smiled at a picture of Sylar in front of a fish tank. He looked uncomfortable at having his picture taken. She flipped through the pictures quickly, smiling at the memories. But on the last picture in the group she stopped. Someone who worked at the aquarium had taken it. She was smiling happily at the camera and she had thought Sylar was as well. But he wasn't. He was looking down at her with a strange look. It was hope and happiness and, well, love. She was momentarily caught breathless. How could she have been so stupid? Why had she pushed him away? She ran a finger over the picture. The look he was giving her was one every girl hoped a man would give her. How had she doubted his feeling when they were right there on his face? Somehow, there in that moment, she knew. He loved her.

She wasn't sure how long she sat there staring at the picture when there was a knock at the door. He head snapped up to see West walk in. She quickly shoved the pictures under her pillow.

"How are you?" he smiled.

"Oh, um, I'm fine." She lied. She most certainly was not fine. The emotions and thoughts that were racing through her mind were making her dizzy. He sat beside her and put his hand on her leg. Ok, this was going to be awkward.

"West, I think we need to talk."

He sighed and frowned. "Is this about Sylar?"

Her mouth popped open in shock. "What? How did you know?"

"Claire, this has been coming for a while. I know how you two feel about each other. I just thought I would give it a shot."

"West, I care about you too."

"Yeah I know Claire. But it's not enough. You have been trying to deny your feelings for him but I can see it. You give him this look when you think no one is looking. You've never given me that look."

"West, I'm sorry."

"Yeah I know. He loves you too. But you have to know that he is really insane."

"He is. But somehow I don't care anymore."

"You know, I really don't get it. He killed your father and your friend and so many people. Yet you love him. How did that happen?"

"I can't answer that because I don't know. It kind of snuck up on me. He somehow found a way to sneak into my heart."

"Well as long as you're happy Claire. Just so you know if he ever hurts you or if you decide you don't him anymore, I'll be here."

Claire laughed. "Thanks West."

He smiled. "Now go get your Evil Prince Charming."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sylar sat on the skyscraper and looked out at the late afternoon sun. He had spent most of the day here. He knew what he had to do and he knew it was going to hurt. Why did he have to love someone so difficult? Why couldn't he be in love with Kassy? His life would be so much happier. But he had never really known happiness, so maybe he didn't know how to be happy. His thoughts were interrupted by footsteps behind him. He glanced back and saw Peter.

"How did you find me?"

"Kassy told me where you might be and I borrowed Hiro's powers."

"Well why are you here?"

"It just seemed like you needed someone."

"Well I don't. I don't need anybody."

Peter smiled softly. "We both know that isn't true."

Sylar looked away. Peters sympathizing face was just too much. Peter walked up and sat on the edge of the building beside him.

"This brings back a lot of memories." Peter smiled.

Sylar knew what he meant. When they had been trapped in his head they had spent a lot of time sitting on top of buildings. "You say that like it's a good memory."

"I don't know." Peter shrugged. "Some of it was good. You went from being my enemy to my friend. At first it was rough, but after a while it got kind of relaxing."

Sylar shook his head. "You're a freak Peter."

Peter laughed. "Aren't we all? So what are you doing up here?"

"Thinking."

"About what?"

"About doing possibly the most painful thing I'll ever do."

"Which is?" Peter urged.

"Letting Claire go."

Peter was silent for a long time. "But why would you do that?"

"Because I'm tired Peter. I've been fighting for so long. Fighting you. Fighting the Company. Fighting my own demons. But fighting my feeling for Claire is by far the worst. Every day it chips away a little bit more of me. I can't take it anymore."

"But maybe if you just try a little-"

"No peter. I can't. It's not fair to either of us. I don't _want _to be the villain anymore. If I hurt Claire that's exactly what I'll be. I'm… I'm tired. I can't focus on fighting my father and trying to win Claire at the same time."

"I didn't know it was this hard for you." Peter said quietly.

"Yeah, well." Sylar shrugged.

"And you're sure this is what you want to do?"

"No, this isn't what I want to do. What I _want _to do is kiss Claire. What I _want_ to do is have a life with her. But what I want doesn't matter. For the good of everyone, I need to let her go."

"Sylar, you know I'm here for you. You're my friend. Hell, you're more than that. You're my brother."

Sylar smiled at him. "Thanks Peter. I've never had a sibling before."

"I know. Which I think it's only fair if I'm the older sibling."

"You can't be. I'm thirty three and you are thirty one."

"Yeah well you act like a baby."

Sylar glared at him. "I do _not _act like a baby."

Peter just laughed. "Ok, whatever you say."

Sylar smiled and lightly punched his shoulder. "I don't think I've ever said this before, but I'm glad I have you."

Peter patted his shoulder. "Of course."

"Well I guess I better go back now." Sylar sighed.

"Do you want be to be there when you do it?"

"No. I to do this alone."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Claire was sitting on the couch when Peter came in.

"Hey Claire, Sylar's outside by the lake. He wants to talk to you."

"Oh, um, ok thanks." Claire gulped.

She had been waiting all day for him to get back and she had even prepared a speech. But now she couldn't move. She was so nervous she felt like she was going to throw up, and she had never thrown up before. How was she supposed to do this? She had no previous knowledge that would help her in this situation. Her legs felt like rubber as she stood. She walked out the front door and headed around back to the lake. She saw him immediately. His back was to her and his outline was surrounded with light from the setting sun. She took a deep breath and continued forward. When she was only five feet away she stopped. His back was rigid as though he was tense.

"Um, Sylar?"

He inhaled deeply before turning. "Hello Claire."

Claire was confused. His face looked sad and a little bit tired. His eyes looked older than they should, like he had been alive for a hundred years.

"You wanted to talk to me?"

"I did." He nodded.

She stared awkwardly at him. What was she supposed to say? "Well that's good because I wanted to talk to you too."

"Really? Ok well then let me go first."

Claire nodded. "Ok."

"I'm… I'm not really sure how to do this."

She smiled reassuringly. So they were both on the same page. Good. "Go on."

"Look, I just want you to be happy. And I know, that right now, that doesn't mean with me."

Wait, what?

"So I just wanted to say that it's ok that you want West. I'll leave you alone and I won't keep bothering you. I'm sorry for the pain I've put you through."

"But Sylar-"

"No Claire, just listen. I'll give you up for now, because someday maybe I can have you. Maybe someday things will be different."

"Wait-"

"Claire please don't make this harder than it already is! Please! This is already bad enough. I need to finish. Maybe I can't have you right now but in seventy years when everyone else is old or gone I'll still be here. I'll wait for you for as long as it takes. Even if that's two hundred years, I'll still be here. Always. So go and be happy with him now for a little while because I know that I have forever with you. And when you finally come to me I'll do everything I can to make you happy. I'll help you forget your pain and your loss. Because I'll have lost them too. Just please, someday, come to me."

Claire was completely speechless. She had no clue that all of that was inside him. It took her a minute to find words. "Why would you do that for me?"

"Claire, you have to know. You aren't stupid."

She raised her eyebrows, waiting for him. She needed to hear him say it. He grasped at his hair as though fighting with his own thoughts.

"Well?" she prompted.

"It's because I'm in love with you Claire! I'm completely and forever in love with you! Ok! So now you know."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

There it was. Now she knew. He covered his face with his hands. When she didn't say anything, he slid his hands away and stared at her. She was looking into his eyes as though searching for something. After a minute she spoke. "I'm not going to want you in seventy years."

He inhaled a sharp breath. Ok, that hurt. He had been expecting rejection, but actually hearing it made him feel like he was slowly shrinking no the inside. At least it was out there. She was never going to want him. He could wait forever and she would never come.

"Ok. I… I understand."

He turned and began to walk away. He couldn't look at her. He had to get away, far away. He was about to take flight when her voice stopped him.

"Sylar!"

He turned slowly.

"I'm not going to want you in seventy years, because I want you right now."

He froze. What? Had he heard her wrong? He looked at her face. Her head was held high and her hands were in fists at her side.

"You… what?" he frowned.

"Sylar, I'm sorry for pushing you away. It was stupid of me. I was trying to deny how I felt but I can't anymore. I want to be with you now, in this moment. I want your love and your adoration and everything you have to give."

All Sylar could do was stare. Was he dreaming? There was no way Claire could be saying these things to him right now. He watched as she walked closer so that she was standing in front of him.

"Do you understand?"

"So, are you saying that… that you…"

She gave him a brilliant smile. "Oh come here you idiot."

She pulled his mouth down to hers. They had kissed before, but this was different. It was soft and sweet yet powerful and intoxicating. After a moment of shocked stillness, he pulled her up to him. How had this happened? He had come here to tell the woman he loved that she could be with someone else and now she was kissing him? He wasn't going question it. She pulled away and smiled breathlessly.

"Sylar, I love you."

He felt like his heart was going to explode. He couldn't possibly handle all of this happiness. He had never known how it felt to truly love and be loved back. He had thought it would perhaps be a weakness. But this didn't feel week. He felt like he could go and take down his father's entire corporation right then. He smiled and kissed her again, more softly.

"You have no clue how those words make me feel. I've been waiting so long to hear them."

"Well they are true. I love you Sylar."

"And I love you Claire."

"So now what?" she asked.

"Now?" he smiled. "Now we take on the world together."


	21. Chapter 21

**New chapter! Already? I know! So things are going to start picking up pace from hear so buckle yourself in for the ride! Please let me know what you think because your lovely comment are the only thing that keep me writing when I think this is going nowhere. You are the best! **

**Chapter 21**

**Dreams of Despair **

Sylar sat across from Claire at dinner. He was still reeling over everything that had transpired. She wanted him? And she loved him? It was too good to be true. But the little smiles she was giving him now over her plate were helping him come to terms. He smiled shyly back. He knew Kassy and Peter were watching them with confusion. As far as they knew he had told her to be with West and she had agreed. They had no clue that everything he had ever hoped for had come true. They didn't know that the little blonde sitting across from him meant more now than any power ever could have. She was everything. After dinner everybody went to the living room to watch a movie on the big screen. Sylar chose to sit on one end of the couch so that he could lean on the arm.

He was hyperaware of Claire as she entered the room. He watched her eyes scan around and stop on him. She seemed to be thinking closely about something before marching over with an air of determination. She dropped herself right beside him on the couch and curled her feet beneath her. They turned the lights off and the movie began. For some reason, Sylar had no clue what to do with his hands. He kept them tight in his lap. What was wrong with him? His usual suave demeanor had completely evaporated. He felt like a shy sixteen year old again. He felt like Gabriel. It was extremely unpleasant. Claire's body was approximately three inches from his, but why was he nervous? They had been this close before. Hell, they had made out. What was different?

Then he knew. Before, they had been unsure of each other. Neither had known how the other felt. But now they had both come clean. He was in love with her and she was in love with him. Gathering his courage he stretched his arm around her shoulder. He felt her stiffen for a second before leaning in to him. The small movement sent butterflies through his stomach. It was a feeling of acceptance and of belonging. What the hell was wrong with him? He was the great and powerful Sylar, yet he was coming undone because Claire leaned into him? He had to-

His train of thought was interrupted when she wiggled slightly, pushing herself more into him and resting her head on his shoulder. He stared down at her and tried to regain his breathing. Yep, he was coming undone. And he was perfectly ok with it. He would give up all of his powers if it meant she would stay right here with him. She glanced up and he knew he was caught staring. He quickly looked back at the T.V. Honestly he didn't even know what movie they were watching. He was much more content watching her. He looked back down and saw that she was trying to hide a smile.

As casually as he could he adjusted himself so that her back was more to his front. He wrapped a long arm around her, holding her to him. He heard her intake of breath and saw her eyes widen slightly, though she remained looking at the T.V. He couldn't help his devious smile that spread across his face. He realized that they were now fully cuddling within sight of everyone. And he didn't care at all. He wanted them to see. Claire had chosen him, she had forgiven him, and she wasn't afraid to admit it. She was his salvation. He wanted to lean down and kiss her, but that that might be going too far.

The movie ended sooner than he would have liked and Claire got up. He noticed many people around the room staring at them. Kassy was watching with a devilish grin. Peters was part smile part irritation. Mohinder looked disgusted. As people began shuffling off to their beds, Claire turned to him.

"So, are you going to sleep on the couch again?"

For a moment he was confused. But then he realized. Oh. The couch in her room. The thought sent thrills up his back.

"Yes, I suppose so."

"Where have you been sleeping since…"

Since you pushed me away for West? "Oh, just around. Sometimes on the roof, sometimes with Kassy."

Her eyes widened. "You sleep with Kassy?"

He laughed. "Not in that way Claire. I promise we have never _slept_ together."

"Oh, ok." She nodded, though he could tell she was fighting the emotions on her face.

"Are you jealous?" he laughed.

"No." she shot back.

As they walked to their room, Claire headed for the bathroom. Sylar dropped himself onto the couch and slid off his shirt. He considered keeping it on, but decided that he wanted it off. He was testing the waters. He placed his hands behind his head and tried to keep his heart rate normal. He heard the soft footsteps before he saw her and glanced up. She walked in wearing the same pajamas she always wore. She closed the door behind her with a click that sounded louder than it should. The tension in the air suddenly rose noticeably. This was the first time they had been truly alone in a long time. Every other time they had been outside in the open or in a room filled with people. Now they were completely alone.

Was now the part where he was supposed to leap up, throw her onto the bed, and ravage her? Well that was certainly out of the question. He wasn't some character on a T.V. show. She stared with wide eyes as she walked to the bed. She gave him a small nervous smile as she climbed under the sheets. She switched off the lamp, but the light coming through the window from the moon was still enough see by. She lay on her side facing him and he did the same.

"Do I still scare you?"

He had no clue why he asked it. It had popped into his head and forced its way out before he could stop it. She stared at him for a moment before replying.

"Yes."

He gasped and sat up on his elbow. "Really? Claire I'm so sorry. Was what I did in the living room to much?"

But she was smiling. "Sylar, I'm not afraid in the way I used to be. I'm afraid of my feelings for you and what they could mean. That's why I pushed you away. I was afraid."

For several minutes he was silent. "Oh." Was all he was able to come up with. As they lay there the darkness enveloped them and after while he heard the steady sound of Claire's snoring. He smiled to himself.

A few hours later he was awoken by something in the room. He sat up and realized that Claire was thrashing around in her covers, mumbling something. He stood up and walked closer.

"No. No, no don't hurt him. Please. Sylar, no."

He stepped back in horror. She was having a nightmare about him. Again. He reached out and gently shook her.

"Claire, wake up. You're having a bad dream."

She woke with a gasp, sitting straight up. She grabbed his hand, making it so he couldn't move away. He stared sadly at her as tears welled in her eyes.

"Sylar? Oh, I was having the worst dream."

"Yeah, I heard." He mumbled.

"You were there."

He closed his eyes. Why did she have to tell him this?

"Samson was hurting you. Torturing you actually."

His eyes snapped open as he looked at her. She was still wiping away tears.

"So you... you were dreaming that someone was hurting _me?" _asked, relief washing through him. He collapsed onto the bed with a short laugh.

"Yes, what did you think?"

He glanced sideways at her. "Well, you were saying something like 'No no, please Sylar no' so I assumed…" he trailed off.

She stared for a moment before gasping and crawling closer.

"Oh Sylar, no. I haven't had a nightmare about you in a long time." She wrapped her arms around him and pressed herself closer. He was acutely aware that she was pressed to his bare chest. It felt nfice. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head.

"Will you lay here for a little while? Just till I fall asleep?" she asked.

He smiled softly at her. "Of course."

He laid back and she rested with her head and arm on top of him. Her blonde hair pooled at the crook of his neck and tickled the skin. This is how he wished to sleep for the rest of his life. He could tell when Clair fell asleep by the way her breathing slowed. He glanced down and smiled. God, she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. He ran a finger over her face. Was it possible that he could actually have an eternity of this? There had to be some law against this much happiness. Surely the cruel world he lived in wouldn't allow him to remain this way. They would try to rip his happiness away somehow. He smirked to himself. Let them try. They had to come through him.

_Sylar was standing in a dark room. He reached his hand out, trying to find a light. Immediately to his right a bright light turned on. He spun to see Kassy standing with her back to him?_

_"Kassy?" he asked hesitantly, reaching out a hand to her. She spun around before he could reach her. Her cheeks were sunk in and thin. Her hair was stringy and dead, hanging limp around her face. Her lips were cracked and bloody and her teeth were chipped. But the worst thing was her eyes. Her usual bright eyes were dull and dead, as though her very soul had been sucked out. _

_"Kassy? What happened to you?" he asked, cupping her face to hands. _

_"He killed us." _

_"Who? My father? No, I said I was going to stop him." _

_"He killed us all. He was too powerful." Kassy moaned. _

_He rubbed her face gently. "No, I won't let him. I'll protect you." _

_Another light turned on behind him and he spun. This time it was Peter. Sylar rushed over to him. He looked just as bad as Kassy except he had cuts all over his face and body._

_"Peter? Peter what's going on?" _

_"We couldn't stop him. Nobody could."_

_"That's not true. I'm more powerful than him."_

_"Nobody is more powerful than him."_

_"Yes I am!" Sylar shouted, becoming panicked. Where was he?_

_Another light turned on and he turned again, afraid of what he would see. He felt his heart constrict when he saw Claire crumpled on the ground. Her arms were wrapped around her legs and her face was pressed to her knees, hiding her face from him. _

_"Claire? Claire!"_

_ He tried to run to her but found that he couldn't. It was as though an invisible force was holding him in his place. _

_"Claire, please tell me what's happening."_

_She looked up from her knees and he covered his mouth in horror. Half of her face was missing. He had seen gore and horror before, hell he had caused it, but something about seeing Claire like that made his stomach turn. _

_"Claire, why aren't you heeling?" She began to cry. "Claire, who did this to you? Please tell me."_

_"You weren't there. You weren't there when he lost control. He killed us all and you didn't stop him."_

_"I'll kill him for this!" he shouted, his furry boiling over. "I'll kill him for hurting you!"_

_"No!" she cried. "Please don't hurt him!"_

_Sylar was confused. "What do mean? He's evil! I have to." _

_"No!" she shrieked, standing up. "Please! Please no!"_

_A fourth light turned on to his left. He was suddenly very frightened to turn. He knew he wouldn't like what he saw. He turned his head very slowly. And frowned. It wasn't his father. A little boy stood in the middle of the light. He was no older than four years old with light brown hair and hazel eyes. Something about him was so familiar._

_"Who are you?" He asked. _

_"You don't know?" Claire frowned. "Sylar, that's our son."_

_"What?" Sylar frowned. "We don't have a son! Claire, we've never even slept together. Trust me, I would remember that."_

_Claire shook her head. "Samson bred us. He created the perfect super." She said sadly. _

_He looked back at the little boy who smiled pleasantly at him. _

_"I named him Noah." Claire whimpered. _

_Sylar couldn't help but smile at the boy. It was his son after all. However, his smile slid off his face when the boy raised his small hand with his finger pointed at him. _

_"No!" Claire cried. "Please Noah, don't hurt daddy!"_

_The boy giggled and in his high pitched voice said. "But there can only be one God." _

_There was a bright flash of light before everything went dark._

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Claire woke sometime in the early morning. She was momentarily startled to find her face resting on a bare chest, but as she sat up she realized who it was. He let out a small whimper in his sleep and she frowned. He was obviously having a nightmare. He reached out to touch his unshaven face. He flinched and made a muffled sounded.

"Sylar? You're dreaming. Wake up." She said as she shook him lightly.

"Claire, I'll protect you." He mumbled.

She smiled and shook him some more. "Sylar, wake up!"

Sylar woke with a cry, sitting straight up and nearly knocking her off the bed. He caught her arm at the last second and pulled her to him.

"That must have been some dream." She laughed.

He frowned, looking confused. "I… I don't remember.


	22. Chapter 22

**So some pretty crazy things happen in this chapter. I just recently decided which direction I want to take this story so let me know what you think! **

**Chapter 22**

**Unexpected **

Claire sat by the lake side and stretched out on her towel. It was a hot day and everybody had decided that a swim in the lake was exactly what they need. She watched at Sylar stood at the edge of the lake with just his toes in the water. She had to admit, he looked good in his swimming trunks. He saw her staring and waved. She waved back, adding a wink for good measure. He opened his mouth to say something, but right them Peter rushed up and tackled him into the water. Claire laughed out loud, as well as several others. They both sat up coughing up lake water.

"Peter you idiot! The lake is still shallow here! That hurt."

"Baby." Peter smirked, standing up.

"Oh yeah?" he said with a devious smile. He caught Peter around the waist and took off for deeper water. When he was out far enough he dropped Peter unceremoniously with a splash. Peter came back up a second later and spit water into the air.

"That was uncalled for!" she heard him shout.

Claire laughed some more. They were just like children. Sylar flew back so that he could sit beside her.

"Would you two kids behave." She chided playfully.

"Never."

She just shook her head. She couldn't help but notice the way he looked at her in her bikini. She wouldn't admit it out loud but she liked the way his eyes grazed over her with that hungry look. It was different from the other hungry look he had, very different.

"Where did you get this bathing suit?" he asked.

"It's one of Kassy's."

"I should have known."

"Why? Don't you like it?"

"Oh, I like it just fine." He smiled.

"Really? Cuz I could go change into something a little more modest-"

He stopped her with a quick kiss. "I said it was fine."

"Ok ok." She laughed, lying down on her towel.

She saw Laura approaching with a tray in her hands. "Are you guy's hungry?"

Claire realized with a bit of surprise that she actually was quite hungry. She accepted one of the sandwiches and bit into it ravenously.

"A little hungry there?" Sylar laughed.

She nodded as she chewed. But then she stopped. Huh. It didn't quite taste right. She lifted the bread up so that she could look at it. It was just ham and cheese. She took another bite. Nope, definitely bad. She leapt up and ran to the bushes were she proceeded to vomit.

"Claire, are you alright?" Sylar frowned.

She nodded. "I just think the sandwich was bad. But it's weird. I've never thrown up before."

"Never?" Sylar frowned.

Claire shook her head.

"But mine tastes fine." Sylar said as he took a bite.

She shrugged. She really didn't know what was going on.

"Maybe I'm getting sick."

"But you've never been sick before."

"I know. But what else could it be?"

Sylar was at a loss for an answer.

"I think I'll go lay down inside for a bit." She said, suddenly feeling weary.

"Ok, do you want me to come with you?" he asked with a worried crease between his eyebrows.

"No I'll be fine." She assured. She walked back to the house and stepped into the cool air. She walked to the bathroom and closed the door. Why did she suddenly feel strange? She sat on the edge of the bathtub and took a deep breath. Suddenly another wave of nausea came over her. She threw herself over the toilet and vomited. What the hell? She rinsed her mouth out and sat on the rug. What was wrong? Something near the edge of the toilet caught her eyes. She reached out and snatched the box of tampons up and frowned. They had been here for over a month now and she still hadn't got her period. Her breathing began to hitch in her throat. There was a light knock on the door and Kassy peeked in.

"Claire? Are you alright? I heard you getting sick."

She took note of Claire on the ground holding the box of tampons. "Is it your period?"

"No." Claire whispered. "That's just it. It's _not_ my period."

Kassy looked very confused. "Huh?"

"Kassy I haven't had my period since I got here."

Kassy's eyebrows shot up at her meaning. "Oh."

"But it's not possible!" Claire cried. "I'm a virgin for crying out loud!"

"Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure!" Claire cried, her pitch going up two octaves.

"Ok, ok." Kassy said reassuringly as she rushed to sit beside her. "We'll figure this out. I'll be back in just one second, ok?"

Claire nodded numbly. She couldn't be pregnant. It was literally not possible. People didn't get pregnant if they didn't have sex. Hadn't her Sex Ed teachers said that abstinence was the only one hundred percent way to not get pregnant? Well so far she had followed that rule! A moment later Kassy appeared with a box in hand which she offered to Claire. She took it and examined it. A pregnancy test. She didn't ask were Kassy got it, just ripped it open sat on the toilet. She didn't even care that Kassy was still standing there. She peed on it and sat it on some tissue paper.

"Ok, now we'll see. Maybe you are jumping to conclusions." Kassy smiled.

Claire nodded. That had to be it. She sat there biting her lips and waiting. After a few minutes Kassy stepped forward.

"Ok, it should be ready."

Claire slowly lifted the stick to see what her fate was.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sylar was in the kitchen with Peter and Emma when Kassy approached. Her face was very grave and Sylar was immediately on red alert.

"Kassy?"

"Sylar, Peter, you need to come with me. Emma you can come too."

They all glanced at each other nervously. She led them upstairs to Claire's room. When they walked in he immediately saw her. She was sitting on her bed with her knees pulled to her face. He had a strange sense of déjà vu. Tears ran openly down her cheeks. He rushed to her side and put his hands on her face.

"What's wrong Claire?"

She only shook her head. He snapped back to Kassy. "Kassy, what's going on?"

Kassy looked a little uncomfortable. "Something has happened."

"What is it?" Peter asked, sitting on the other side of Claire.

"Claire's… Pregnant."

Everyone in the room gasped. Sylar felt cold. "What are you talking about?" he frowned looking back at Claire.

"She just took a pregnancy test. It was positive."

Claire had begun to cry harder. Sylar didn't want to, but he had to ask. "Whose is it?"

"I don't know!" Claire screamed. "I'm a virgin!"

"Well Claire, babies don't just magically pop into your belly." Sylar frowned.

"You think I don't know that! I have no clue what's going on!"

"Emma can you examine her?" Kassy wondered.

Emma nodded and scooted Peter out of the way. "What are your symptoms so far?"

"Well… I haven't got my period obviously. Vomiting, fatigue, and things taste weird. It just started happening"

Emma nodded. "Well without equipment I can't know for sure, but it seems like you are maybe around six to eight weeks."

Claire frowned. "Six to eight weeks? But six to eight weeks ago I was…"

Sylar watched all of the color drain from her face as he mentally finished her sentence. Six to eight weeks ago they had been at the facility. He felt like he was going to be sick.

"Oh my god." Claire whispered. "Samson did this. He… he must have _injected me_."

Peter covered his mouth. "Oh god. That is sick."

"Claire it'll be ok." Kassy assured.

Claire looked at Kassy like she had lost her mind. "It will _not_ be ok. I don't even know who the father is! It could even be _him_ for all we know!" she cried, grasping at her stomach at that horrible idea. "Oh my God. This can't be happening. I'm dreaming. I'll wake up any second and I'll be so relieved."

She was hyperventilating now. Peter jumped up to wrap her in his arms.

"Shh Claire, we'll get through this. We are all here for you."

"But, but I don't even want a baby!" Claire cried.

"Well" Peter said slowly "there are other options."

"Like what?" Claire frowned.

"Well there's adoption or… abortion."

Claire's eyes went wide.

Sylar stood up. "Can I speak to Claire alone for a moment?"

They all stared at him, seeming a little unsure. Did they think he would hurt Claire?

"Please?"

They nodded and silently stood. When they were all gone he closed the door. He turned back and stared at Claire. She was staring intently at the floor with her shoulders hunched in as though waiting to be yelled at. He sat beside her on the bed.

"Claire…"

"I know." She whispered. "You don't want me anymore. I understand."

He reached out and gently turned her face to his. "Are you out of your mind?"

"What?" she frowned.

"Claire, this baby is mine."

"But we don't know that-"

"No Claire you aren't listening. It doesn't matter who the biological father is. This baby is _mine_."

Tears began to well in her eyes again. "Why?"

"Claire this isn't your fault. I have a million things to kill my father for, but this tops them all. His death will be painful for this."

"That doesn't answer _why?_"

"Because Claire" he sighed "When I said I loved you it didn't mean for now or for a little while. It meant forever. This baby is part of you, so I love it."

He got on his knees so that he was between her legs. He placed his head gently on her stomach and kissed it softly. He looked back up just as Claire burst into hysterical tears. She pulled his mouth to hers and began to frantically kiss him. He allowed her to kiss him for a few moments before gently pulling away.

"We _will be _ok Claire. I promise that I'll take care of you. Both of you."

She gave him a watery smile. "Thank you."

"Always."

He pulled her in for a hug. She hugged him back for a few seconds before pulling back with wide eyes. "But what if it's _Hiro's _baby?"

Sylar burst into laughter. "Well I guess we'll know if you give birth to a little Asian that cries 'Yatta!'."

Claire couldn't help but let out a small laugh. Sylar pulled her into his arms and accepted then and there that he was going to be a father.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Claire lay in her bed and stared at the ceiling. When had her life gotten this way? Well, she supposed it was some time around five years ago. But this was different. She felt so… dirty. Three days ago she had been wondering if she should be with Sylar or West. Now she was pregnant and Sylar had declared that he was going to be the father. She looked over at him. He was sound asleep on the couch. He snored slightly and twitched his nose. Everything was happening so fast.

The thing that was the most horrifying was that she didn't know who the father was. Samson had injected her with some unknown mans seed. She ran it over and over in her head. What if it was his? What if in some sick way he decided he wanted a child again and had chosen her as his guinea pig? How could she carry the baby of a monster? Or what if he had done something worse? What if it was Peters? There was every chance he would do something that horrible just to torment her. It could be anyone's in this house. Out of everyone, she truly hoped it would be Sylars. She loved him and he actually wanted this baby. But did she?

What if this wasn't a baby at all? What if Samson injected her with some horrible monster? She rubbed at her belly, suddenly imagining a terrible little creature growing inside of her. She quickly shook her head. She couldn't think like that. This was her child. It was going to be a beautiful baby. She was just scared.

She had no clue how to be a mom. She didn't even have a place of her own to live. All she knew was that she couldn't let Samson get his hands near her baby. She would never let that happen and neither would Sylar.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sylar was laying on his couch, enjoying a quiet afternoon. He wasn't sure where everyone was, just that he was alone. He flipped through a sports car magazine. He wasn't sure why he was doing this; he didn't even really care about cars. He was disrupted from his reading by a distant sound. He tilted his head trying to hear it better. There it was again. He stood up from the couch and walked into the hall. The sound was much clearer now and he recognized what it was. It was the sound of a baby crying.

He followed the sound down the hall and into Kassy's room. But it wasn't Kassy's room. Not really at least. Where her bed usually sat was a little blue bassinet. Oh, that's right. He remembered now. This was his baby. His and Claire's. He smiled as he approached the crib. A little baby lay inside. It wriggled and squirmed like babies do. Sylar smiled in wonder. His son. He reached out to stroke the babies face. It smiled happily at him.

"Hello…" Sylar struggled to remember his name. Oh, that's right. "Hello Noah."

The baby let out a little giggle at the sound of his name. It was a beautiful sound.

"You look like your mommy." Sylar cooed.

"I think he looks more like me."

Sylar spun at the voice. His father stood in the doorway smiling happily.

"This is my son." Sylar snarled.

"Oh, no son. He is mine. You have a little brother."

Sylar was suddenly thrown across the room into the wall. He struggled helplessly as he watched his father walk to the crib.

"Don't touch him!" Sylar screamed. Why weren't his powers working?

"He's a much more hansom baby than you were." His father remarked. He reached out and lifted the baby into his arms. He turned and began to walk out the door.

"No! Noah!" Sylar shouted in a panic. "Please! I promised I would protect him!"

His father turned and gave him a wicked smile. "You shouldn't have made a promise you can't keep."

He disappeared out the door. The last thing he saw was Noah lifting his tiny hand to wave goodbye.

"No!" Sylar cried as he sat up on his couch. He looked over at Claire's bed and saw that she was sleeping soundly. His dream echoes inside of him, making him break out into a cold sweet. He walked to Claire and knelt by her bed. Her blankets were wrapped around her body in a massive tangle. He smoothed her hair out of her face. What was he going to do? What if his father came and he couldn't fight him. Sylar scoffed at that. He had beaten his father last time without even trying. But the future was so unsure. All he knew was that he would save Claire or die trying.

He gently touched her belly. His son was growing in there right now. He didn't know how he knew it was a boy. He just knew. He knew there was a good chance that this wasn't really his baby but he didn't care. Claire needed him and he needed her. He noticed tear tracks still on her cheeks. He had to make this as easy for her as he could. Whatever it took, he was going to make her happy. If that meant being a caring father that's exactly what he would do.

"I'll always be here for you Claire."

As he stood to walk back to his couch he didn't notice her open her eyes just a crack. With a small smile she whispered "I know."


	23. Chapter 23

**Ok, so there was some concern about the direction my story is going in. Don't worry! The baby was crucial for my character development. I'll try my best to not let you guys down! This chapter goes over the span of about a month and it moves pretty fast. That is intentional. It's getting to the good stuff. Just be patient with me! Love you guys! You comments help me a lot! **

**Chapter 23**

**Babies and Demons**

Claire sat on the couch beside Tracy. She was watching some political show that Claire didn't understand. She turned a penny over and over in her fingers hardly paying attention. As she flicked her eyes away from the T.V. she couldn't help but notice Matt staring at her. People had begun doing that a lot lately. It had been two weeks since she discovered her pregnancy. Feeling the urge to pee she jumped up and hurried to the downstairs restroom. On her way out she found Matt waiting anxiously pacing the hallway.

"Matt is something wrong?"

"Oh, um Claire. Yeah I just wanted to talk to you."

"Ok, about what?"

"About… about the baby."

Claire's raised her eyebrows. "What about the baby?"

"Well…" Matt took a deep breath "There is a chance that it's mine."

"Oh." Was all Claire could say.

"Look, if… if it is mine I want you to know that I'll be here for you."

"Oh, Matt, you don't have too."

"I know. I know that I don't have to. But I want to. I've lost my son and I know that I can never replace him but… I'll take care of it if it's mine."

"That's… nice Matt, but we don't know whose it is."

"Yeah I know. There's only a one in fifteen chance that it's mine but still. Are you going to get a paternity test?"

"Um I don't know. I haven't thought about it."

"Oh right."

They continued to stare at each other. It was really quite awkward.

"Well, if there's nothing else…"

"Oh, no! Go on." Matt smiled.

Claire nodded and walked back to the living room. Kassy and Micah were having a mental battle over which channel to watch. The T.V. was jumping between two different channels at a barely visible speed.

"Hey Kassy, where's Sylar?"

"Oh, um, I think he said he was going somewhere with Peter."

"Really?" Claire frowned. "Where?"

Kassy just shrugged. Uh oh. This could only mean trouble.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sylar stood in the middle of the aisle and chewed his lip. He had no clue where to even start in this place. He had been standing there for five minutes and he still didn't know what to do. Peter ran around the aisle with something in his hands.

"Dude look!" Peter held up a baby suit that looked like R2D2. "Isn't this sweet?"

"You aren't turning my baby into a nerd."

"Star Wars is cool!" Peter argued.

Sylar shook his head and went back to staring at baby toys. "I specifically remember it not being cool."

"Things are different now though. Being a nerd is actually cool."

"Whatever you say." Sylar muttered.

"I'm buying it." Peter smiled, walking away.

Sylar selected a toy and examined it. Why did they have different numbers on them? Even with his ability he was confused. A woman walked down the aisle pushing a cart with a toddler in it. When she saw him examining the toy she smiled.

"Is it your first?" she asked.

He looked up and nodded. "I'm not really sure what to do. What are all these numbers for?"

"They show the age group that the toys are best for. 0-3 is for how many months the baby would be."

"Oh, that actually makes sense." He laughed. He dropped a few toys into the cart.

"Is it a boy or girl?"

"We don't actually know." He shrugged.

"Ah, you want it to be a surprise. That's what my husband and I did."

Sylar glanced at the little boy in the cart. He was happily sucking on a sippy cup.

"I can see it." The woman smiled.

"See what?" Sylar frowned.

"The fear. My husband was terrified as well."

Sylar wanted to argue that he wasn't afraid, but that wasn't the truth.

"I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do."

"Oh it's not that hard. You can't really do wrong."

"Tell that to my dad." Sylar muttered.

"You just have to be there for them, always."

"Yeah, thanks." Sylar nodded. Wanting to end the conversation he turned away.

He pushed his cart away in search of Peter. He found him in the crib aisle. He was shaking one of the cribs with a bit too much force.

"What the hell are you doing? If you break it you have to pay for it."

"I'm making sure it's sturdy."

"From what, a hurricane? If I knew you were going to be this much trouble I would have left you at home."

"And leave the fate of my niece or nephew in yours hands? I don't think so."

"Isn't it technically you great niece or nephew?"

Peter glared at him. "I'm definitely not old enough to be a great uncle. So how are we supposed to know which crib is the best one?"

"How am I supposed to know?"

"Well I don't know, aren't you supposed to be the smart one?"

"Yes Peter, because while I was going around murdering people I stopped to learn which crib is best for a baby."

"Hey look at this!" Peter cried, holding up a blanket. Sylar frowned at it.

"A 1960's London police box? What's so special about it?"

"It's a Tardis!"

"A _what?"_

"A Time and Relative Dimension in Space! From Doctor Who."

Sylar shook his head. "I'm not even going to ask how you know that."

"Um, because I'm awesome."

When they were done with their purchases they pushed the carts to the front register.

"Is this all for you today?" the girls smiled pleasantly.

"Yep, this'll be good for now." Sylar replied.

"Alright. The total comes out to $6,354 and 12 cents."

"Jesus, if I had known it would cost this much I would have gone back to 1950 and bought it all."

The girl laughed as though he was joking. He pulled the correct amount of money from his wallet a dropped it on the counter.

"You know, it's so nice to see people like you being so open about who you are."

Peter frowned. "People like us?"

"Yes. I'm completely for gay marriage you know."

"Wait, wha-"

"Come on _sweet heart_." Sylar smiled, wrapping his arm around Peters shoulder and carting him out of the store.

"I'm going to kill you." Peter glared.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Claire sat on Kassy's bed and blew on her nails. Kassy had just finished painting them a bright pink. For the past hour and a half Kassy had been pampering her. So far she had gotten a facial, had gotten a pedicure and manicure, and had her hair curled.

"I still don't see why all of this was necessary."

"You're going to be a mom. You need to spend a little time pampering."

"You don't need to keep reminding me that I'm pregnant." Claire grumbled.

There was a knock on the door and Laura peeked her head in. "Hey Claire, Sylar is in Kassy's office and he wants to talk to you."

For some reason this made Claire feel very nervous. She glanced back at Kassy who just shrugged. She followed Laura down the stairs but stopped in front of the office door. This was the part where Sylar was going to tell her that he couldn't do this anymore. He would say that he tried, but this wasn't for him. He didn't sign up for this. He was going to leave. She brushed the tears away from her eyes quickly, preparing herself. She had to be strong. She wouldn't blame him for leaving. She would still love him. That was probably the worst part. She stepped into the office and froze. Sylar stood in the center of the room with his hands shoved into his pockets and a small smile on his lips. But this wasn't what Claire noticed.

The office had been completely converted into a nursery. The walls were painted a soft purple that matched the blankets in an expensive looking crib. There was a changing table in the corner and a rocking chair against the back wall. She picked up a stuffed dinosaur and ran her hand over the soft fur.

"Sylar, what is all this."

"Well, I figured it was pretty obvious. It's baby nursery."

"Well I know that." She laughed. "Did you do this?"

He nodded. "Everyone else helped, but it was my idea."

She tried to hold back the tears but couldn't. Her hormones were all out of whack.

"Sylar thank you."

"No problem babe." He shrugged.

She stepped into his arms and let him hold her. "I thought you were going to leave me."

He pulled back and frowned. "Claire how many times do I have to go over this?"

"I know I know. You're in it for the long haul. I'm just terrified you'll wake up and decide that I'm not worth it."

"Claire, you're worth everything."

He kissed the top of her head and smiled. "Come here." He led her to the rocking chair and sat her in it. "Now just imagine. In about seven months you'll be sitting here with our new little addition."

She smiled. "But what about Kassy's office?"

"She's the one who suggested we put the nursery here. She said she would just put her computer in her room."

"Wait, how did you do all this so fast?"

"Well with Edgar's speed, Mohinder's strength, my multitude of abilities, and Tracy's ability to boss anyone around we got it done in about an hour." He smiled.

"Really? They all helped?"

"Yeah, well, this could really be any of theirs."

Claire shook her head. "No Sylar, this baby is yours."

"I know." He nodded, giving her a kiss.

"Why do you love me so much?"

"You may as well ask why miracles happen."

"You're a miracle."

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, ok."

"You are. How else can you explain everything that's changed between us?"

"Well I was leaning towards my dashing good looks."

Now it was her turn to roll her eyes.

"You have to admit" he smirked, suddenly pulling her body against his "I'm pretty damn smooth."

"Ok smooth criminal, don't over exert yourself."

"I'll show you over exertion."

He spun her in a circle and lifted her so that she was standing on his feet. He danced around the room in an elegant ballroom style while floating about a foot off the ground.

"Sylar!" she laughed. "Put me down!"

He landed back on the floor and smiled. "Well I'm starving. Let's go eat."

She let him pull her along with him. The next couple weeks passed by in a blur. Emma and Peter had managed to get an ultrasound devise as well as several other medical devises. They were all set up in the back of the living room like some makeshift hospital room. Claire lay on the table and waited anxiously. Emma had determined that she was now about eleven weeks along, and this was going to be her first ultrasound. Emma rubbed some cold goo on her belly and smiled comfortingly. Peter and Sylar stood beside her. Peter looked at ease as he helped Emma, but Sylar looked like he was on edge. He watched everything they did with intent eyes. Emma placed the detector on her belly and moved it around. There was suddenly a quick thrumming sound coming from the machine.

"Is that part of the machine?" Claire asked.

Peter laughed. "No Claire, that's the heartbeat."

She stared in wonder at the screen. It was really just a bunch of movement, but it was obviously a baby. She glanced back at Sylar. He looked just as amazed as she felt.

"Is everything healthy?" he asked.

"Yep, he looks great."

"He?" Claire frowned.

"Yep. Sometimes you can't tell but with this little guy I can see it pretty clear."

"Well then he is _definitely_ my son." Sylar smirked.

Claire glared at him. "Really?"

"What? I never claimed to be modest."

That night Claire stood staring out her window. A soft breeze blew in and she leaned against the window frame.

"What are you thinking about?"

She didn't need to turn to know it was him. "A lot of things."

"Like?"

"Like how I'm not afraid anymore."

He stood beside her. "You aren't?"

"No. Hearing that heart beat and knowing that he's a boy, it just made so real and so… so nice."

"Yeah, I know what you mean."

"Now I just have to think of a name." she shrugged.

"Actually, I think I have a name."

She was genuinely surprised. "Really?"

"Yeah. I though Noah would be a good name."

At that moment she could have thrown him onto the bed and taken him then and there. Instead she settled with a hug. "You would name him that? Even after everything my dad did to you?"

"He was your father Claire. I mean yeah he tried to kill me a few times but who hasn't?"

She laughed. "When did you become so amazing?"

"I think it was when I first realized that I loved you."

Needless to say she spent the rest of the night kissing him. As the days passed she was finding it harder and harder to control her libido. She was horny practically every minute of every day. It didn't help that Sylar paraded his good look around like it was nothing. On one morning he entered the room wearing nothing but a towel after his shower. She had to dig her nails into the mattress to stop herself from jumping him. Being a virgin, she didn't know what sex would feel like, but her baby hormones were telling her that it would feel pretty damn good.

A week after they decided to name the baby Noah she was sitting in her room reading when Sylar came in. He sniffed his shirt and made a face. He then proceeded to yank the shirt off and throw it on the ground. He began lifting and examining shirts, trying to decide what to wear. She gripped her book so hard she was sure it would rip in half.

"Can you _not_ do that?"

He glanced up looking surprised. "Doing what?"

"_Looking_ like that."

"What's wrong with the way I look?"

"Nothing! That's the problem! Between you and these stupid baby hormones it's driving me _crazy_."

His eyes widened. "Oh." His face shifted into a devious smile "_Oh._ So you don't like it when I do this?" he asked, leaning over her.

She shook her head and closed her eyes.

"What about this?" He asked, running a hand over her cheek.

"No!" she muttered, covering her face.

"And this?"

He leaned in and blew air across her neck. He nibbled gently at her ear. She found herself leaning into it, loving how it felt. When she realized what she was doing she pulled back.

"Stop it!" She yelped, jumping off the bed and racing out the door. She could hear his devious laughter as she hurried down the hall.

Claire was lying on the couch two days later when Peter walked up.

"Hey Claire, most of us are going over to the other super's house to talk about some plans. Would you mind staying here with Laura?"

"But why?" she frowned. "I want to come."

"Micah, Molly, Amanda and Kristie are staying. I just don't want to leave Laura alone with a bunch of teenagers."

Claire made a face. "Ok, fine."

"Thanks!" Peter smiled before running out the door. Claire rolled her eyes. Everybody being all protective of her was really annoying. Once everyone was gone and the house was quiet Claire settled deeper into the couch to watch T.V. Amanda joined her, sitting near her feet.

"How are you feeling?" Amanda asked.

"Fine." Claire shrugged.

"Good."

Claire was glad that she didn't ask more questions. She was so tired of all the questions. They were watching a rerun of family feud when there was a knock at the door.

"I'll get it." Amanda volunteered.

Who would knock? She heard the door open and a man's voice saying something. Claire glanced up when she saw Amanda stumble back.

"Amanda?"

She turned to look at her. Her eyes were wide and her mouth hung open in a shocked circle. He hands were pressed to her abdomen and blood was seeping through them. She fell to the ground in a heap.

"Amanda!" Claire shrieked, jumping from the couch. She was about to run to her when she stopped. A pair of expensive leather shoes stepped over the growing pool of blood. Standing before her was the devil himself.

"Samson." She whispered.

He smiled pleasantly. "Well hello Claire."


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24**

**Devils Trap**

Claire was frozen for all of a second before her body kicked into action. She leapt swiftly over the couch and raced for the hall. Just before she reached it however a whistling sound came from behind her. She stopped in her tracks. It was as though she was suddenly paralyzed. She saw Laura come from kitchen and freeze. Her eyes went wide as they moved from Claire to Samson to Amanda.

"Laura get the others and run!" Claire screamed.

Laura seemed to be stuck on Samson. "You."

"Laura he'll kill you! Run."

Laura's eyes snapped back to Claire as though suddenly waking up. She turned and ran down the hall. She heard footsteps approach. He walked into her line of vision and smiled.

"Don't fear. I have no need for her."

"What the hell do you want?"

"You Claire. I want that delicious ability of yours." He said, tapping her head.

"Why didn't you just take it when I was in that facility?"

"Oh, that was all experimental. I need to know your limits."

"How did you find me?"

"Oh, I've known where you've been for a while now. I couldn't very well walk into a house full of powerful specials. Especially not with my son here protecting you. I needed to wait for an opportunity. Them all leaving was just too perfect."

She glanced at Amanda. "You didn't need to kill her."

"Well of course I didn't _need _too. I wanted to. Killing someone every once in a while helps relieve my stress."

"You're sick." She snarled.

"Mmm, yes I've heard that I am. Where do you think Gabriel gets it?"

"He's nothing like you." She snapped.

He laughed. "Oh really? He may have fallen for the girl but he is still the same monster that came to my house intending to kill me. His own father!"

"You sold him and killed his mother in front of him!"

"Ah, yes. That is a bit unfortunate. I didn't know he was watching when I did that."

"You think that makes it better?"

"Honestly it doesn't matter. The woman was putting up too much of a fight. All I wanted was a few thousand bucks and she was throwing such a fit."

"You were selling her son! Any mother would have 'thrown a fit'."

"Yes." He said, letting his eyes move down to her stomach. "You would know."

She felt the color drain from her face. Samson laughed joyfully and it made her stomach turn.

"Oh, this is all just too perfect." He reached out and ran a hand over her face. She wanted to recoil but physically couldn't. She was reminded horribly of the Stanton Hotel. "My son really does have good taste. You're just the kind of woman I would have gone for in my youth. Pretty and fiery. A little bird caught in the web of a large spider."

"Don't _touch me._" She snarled.

"Or what? You'll sick your dog on me? Gabriel's not here right now. Just me."

He ran his lips over her hair. She was seriously going to be sick. "Just kill me already and get it over with!"

He chuckled. "Oh, not just yet. First, I have a little revenge that needs to play out."

He lifted his hands and flicked his fingers at her. She suddenly felt very tired. She fell to the ground with a thump. The last thing she saw was Samson reaching down for her.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Peter stumbled slightly as they teleported into Laura's front yard.

"Still not quite used to it?" Sylar mocked.

"Shut up." He smiled.

They began to walk towards the house when Sylar froze. Peter followed his eyes to the front door. It was hanging wide open with nobody in sight.

"Something's wrong." Sylar mumbled.

The all began to run to the house when Kassy gasped. Someone was lying just within the door way.

"Amanda!" Edgar shouted, speeding up to her.

Both Sylar and Peter were suddenly on red alert for the danger. Kassy checked Amanda's pulse. "She's still alive."

"I'm taking her to the hospital." Edgar said, lifting her into his arms.

Kassy ran further into the house. "Laura! Laura where are you?"

Laura came running from one of the back rooms. "Oh Kassy! He came! He was here."

Peter went cold. He knew who she had to be talking about. "Why didn't he kill you?"

Laura just shook her head, not having an answer.

Sylar grasped Laura by the arms. "Where's Claire?"

Tears began to stream down her face. "He… he just took her."

Peter watched as right before his eyes his best friend turned. Where a moment ago good natured Sylar stood there was now a monster. It chilled Peter to the core as he watched bits of deadly insanity sketch themselves across his face. Sylar turned to him and he looked into eyes he had hoped he would never see again. He knew others were watching with suddenly fearful expressions.

"Um, guys, come look at this." Kassy called

Peter followed her voice into the living room. Covering the entire side wall of the living room were words that looked like they had been burned into it.

"If you want her, come and get her." Kassy read out loud. Bellow it was an address.

Sylar turned and stalked from the room. Peter rushed after him.

"Sylar wait!"

"Get off me!" he growled, shaking away his arm.

"Sylar this is a trap. He isn't just going to let you leave with her."

"You think that matters? Do you think that changes anything at all? Because it doesn't. I will tear the whole building down if I have too."

"With Claire inside?"

"She'll be fine."

"And the baby?"

Sylar paused. "I'll think of something."

"Sylar just stop!" Peter cried, but it was too late. Sylar took off into the sky.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kassy watched Sylar take off into the sky. Peter ran up to her.

"We have to go after him. He's going to get himself killed."

"Agreed. I have to talk to Laura real quick but I'll meet you out here in five minutes."

Peter nodded and rushed off. Kassy found Laura sitting in the kitchen with her head in her hands.

"Laura, I'm going with Peter to help Sylar."

"No! Kassy you can't."

"What do you mean I can't? They're my friends I have too."

"Kassy, why didn't you show me a picture of Samson before?"

"Um, because I didn't think I had too."

"Kassy that man… he's…"

"He's what? Evil? Yeah I know that. Don't worry I'll be back shortly."

"No!" Laura cried, grabbing her hand.

"Laura, what's wrong?"

"Kassy, that man is your father!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sylar landed in front of the address Samson had given just twenty minutes later. It was awful close to Laura's house for his comfort. Samson really had a thing for warehouses in the middle of fields. He eyed it warily. He couldn't see any guards from the outside but that only made him more skeptical. Of course this was a trap. But his father knew he would come anyways. He didn't even try to be sneaky. It just wasn't his style. He marched up to the front door and kicked it in. Within was nothing but darkness. Electricity crackled over his body as he walked in, lighting the room up. He walked through it to where he could see the only door. He kicked that down too. Beyond it was a long hallway which he followed at nearly a run. He took a sharp left and then two rights. There was nothing. He looked into different rooms but there were all bare and dirty. The building appeared to be empty. Had this been a wild goose hunt?

Maybe neither his father nor Claire was here. What if he had just been sent away so his father could slaughter everyone back at the house? He turned and began to race back the way he came. He was so caught up in his fear that he didn't see the bit of metal slide away from the floor. Before he knew what was happening he fell through the trap door.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

All Kassy could do was stare at Laura. She couldn't have heard her right.

"What are you talking about?"

Laura's face was pained, as though fighting an internal battle. "If I had known who he was I would have told you sooner."

"No no no. My mom told me that my father was some loser she met in high school that knocked her up and left.

"I'm so sorry Kassy. That's just what your mom told you because she didn't want you to know the truth."

"Why the hell would she lie to me?" Kassy shouted.

"She was protecting you! She didn't see what a monster he was until she was already pregnant with you. She told me all about it. She had gotten home early and was walking up to their apartment. She heard arguing and saw Samson and a man in the hallway. The man was just asking Samson to not play his T.V. so loud. She watched as he killed the man without even touching him. She ran away and never went back."

Kassy felt like she was being suffocated. She gasped in air, trying to keep calm. Laura handed her a paper bag to breathe into.

"Why didn't you tell me when this all started?"

"Because I didn't know!"

"I have a ton of pictures of him!"

"I never saw any!"

"But you knew his name!"

"Your mom always called him Sam. That's a pretty common name!"

Kassy grasped at her hair. This was not happening. There was no way she could be the daughter of Satan.

"Kassy I'm so sorry."

"Does Samson know who I am?"

"I honestly don't know."

What would everyone else think? Peter, Claire, Sylar… Oh god. Sylar.

"No. No no no no. Ew! Oh my god!"

"What!" Laura cried.

"Sylar's my brother."

"Yes, he is. Why do say that like it's a bad thing? You two are friends."

"Yes but… ew!"

"Oh my god Kassy what did you do? Did you sleep with him?"

"No!" she shouted. "Thank god! But I… we… we made out."

Laura covered her mouth. "Oh god."

Kassy suddenly couldn't get the image of Sylar pressing her against the wall out of her head. On one hand she was happy. She already loved Sylar, now he was her actual family. On the other hand he was her _brother. _Her big brother. She had to stop that train of thought. It was going to make her sick.

"Laura, you can't tell anybody."

"But why?"

"Because what will they think? They could think I was in it with him the whole time!"

"Oh Kassy, I don't think they-"

"I can't risk it! I finally have people besides you and the girls that I love and I can't lose them. I just can't."

"But Kassy they love you too."

"Please Laura. I need you to do this for me."

Laura made a face but nodded. Peter came running into the kitchen.

"What's taking so long? I've been waiting for fifteen minutes."

"I'm coming." She said, trying to give her most believable smile. He nodded and walked back towards the living room. She gave Laura one more warning glance before follow after him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sylar came around slowly. He felt like he had been hit with a sledge hammer. Before he opened his eyes he recognized that he was sitting in a chair and he was strapped down. He could hear someone calling his name from what sounded like a distance, but as he pulled himself from unconsciousness he realized it was coming from very close nearby. He opened his eyes and blinked at a bright light. He was in a white room, and sitting in front of him strapped to another chair was Claire. He was instantly alert.

"Thank god." She sighed.

"Claire, are you ok?"

She nodded. "What happened to Amanda?"

He frowned. How was that the first thing she could ask him? "She was still alive the last time I saw her."

Claire looked relieved.

"Claire has he hurt you?"

She made a face but before she could say anything a voice came from the speaker above them.

"Oh, I haven't done anything too permanent yet."

At the sound of his father's voice he began yanking at his restraints. He tried to mentally undo them but found that he couldn't. He noticed a blue bracelet that looked similar to the bars from that cage he had been trapped in.

"Oh, you won't be getting out of those. We modified it, making it completely effective. Even I can't break its hold."

Sylar looked around and saw a glass mirror. That must be where his father was.

"Let her go Samson."

"And give up such a wonderful opportunity? I really don't think so."

"Samson she isn't part of this."

"Oh on the contrary Gabriel, she is everything to this."

"My name is not Gabriel, it's Sylar."

Samson chuckled, ignoring him. "You see, I've been thinking of the best way to hurt you. I was racking and racking my brain but I just couldn't think of it. You are immortal after all. Until that night at the party when you told Jonathan that you loved Claire. Then I had an idea that had never occurred to be before. Maybe you actually cared about someone. And maybe hurting that someone was the best way to hurt you."

"Don't you dare! Don't you dare touch her!"

"Oh son, if I had raised you I would have taught you to never show your hand. You know, when I read all of those files on the things you did I was very impressed. Proud, even. You killed so many people and took so many powers. And then back at my house you showed such strength and such hostility I thought for sure you would be an impressive adversary. But now look at you. Your emotions have made you weak."

"That isn't true."

"Yes it is. That little girl in front of you has clouded your sight. The only way to make you see clearly again is to remove her."

"No! Please!"

"Well Gabriel, at least you have manners."

"I said my name is Sylar! If you touch her I will kill you."

"Well then, I guess I won't touch her."

Blue electricity shot from cuffs on Claire's hands. She screamed and arched her back.

"No!" Sylar shouted.

"A fresh dose of pain prohibitors really does the trick."

The electricity stopped and Claire collapsed into the chair. Tears were now running down her face.

"Please father I'll do whatever you want. Just don't hurt her."

"Well you see I don't really need you. All you are is a liability. I can't have someone as powerful as you walking around. That's also why I can't let my grandson live."

Sylar's head snapped around to look at the mirror.

"Oh yes, it is yours. I wanted to track her reproduction to see if it was the same as a normal woman's. I didn't expect her to escape and carry it to the end of the first term."

"You can kill me just let her go!"

"No!" Claire cried.

"That's not going to happen. Before you die, I want you to suffer just as I did."

Another wave of electricity course through Claire, making her scream some more. Sylar fought against his restraints. He could feel his powers locked back against a damn. It was far thicker and more difficult to get through than it had been last time, but still he fought against it. The electricity continued and Claire's screaming grew louder.

"Stop it! Please! Please father!"

Instead it only increased. Sylar felt for the barrier on his powers and pushed. It was like trying to move a mountain with your bare hands but he had to do it. A mix of panic and fury was welling inside him at the sight of Claire's writing body. He could feel the barrier beginning to break as he focused all of his energy on it.

"Now Gabriel, now you know how it feels to truly feel hopeless."

"I. AM. SYLAR!" he screamed.

All of his power broke free at once. Claire's chair was thrown back into wall where she hit with a sickening crunch. The glass to the mirror shattered and the whole room shook. With a simple flick of his hand his restraints were undone. He ran to the room behind the mirror and peered in. If anyone had been in there before, they were gone now. He ran back to Claire and unfastened her from the chair. Her back had been broken but it was already fixing itself. He placed his hand on her stomach, trying to feel for any sign of fetal movement. There was nothing.

"Claire? Claire baby wake up." He said, stroking her face.

She didn't move. She wasn't waking up. He lifted her in his arms very carefully, afraid to do more harm. She looked so small and helpless, the way she hung limply in his arms. He had to get her out of here.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Peter and Kassy stood near the edge of the trees and watched the building in front of them. So far they hadn't seen any movement.

"We should go in." Kassy said, taking a step forward.

"No. If this is a trap it won't help anyone for us to get caught."

Kassy made a face. "But what if he's hurt?"

"He'll be fine." Peter said, though he felt like he was saying more for his benefit that hers.

There was a sudden tremor in the ground that nearly knocked them off balance.

"Um, what was that?"

"That was either a small earth quake, or Sylar is really angry."

They both glanced at each other, dreading what that might mean. As they continued to watch the building a figure came running out. They recognized it immediately as Sylar. He seemed to be holding Claire. They raced towards him.

"Sylar! Are you ok?" Kassy asked.

"I'm fine. But Claire… she won't wake up."

Peter reached out and took her hand. "What happened?"

"Samson electrocuted her."

"How's the baby?" Peter frowned.

A look of hopelessness crossed Sylars face. "I can't feel him move."

Peter felt sick. "Don't worry it'll be ok."

Sylar stepped away from them. "I have to get her home."

"Let's go." Peter nodded.

He grabbed ahold of Kassy and Sylar and teleported.

****** Your comments are really important to me so let me know what you think!******


	25. Chapter 25

**I'm just going to apologize in advanced. **

**Chapter 25**

**Lives Unlived **

When Claire woke up her whole body hurt. She moaned as she adjusted herself in her bed. What had happened? She let her mind drift back, thinking of the last thing she remembered. When it came to her she sat up sharply in her bed. That was mistake.

"Ahh!" she moaned, falling back into bed. Why did she hurt so badly? It wasn't like she hadn't been electrocuted before. She opened her eyes and realized that she was in her room. How had she gotten back here? Sylar must have broken them out. The door opened and she looked up. Peter was carrying a syringe of clear liquid.

"Claire!" he cried when he saw she was awake. He set the syringe down and ran to her bed.

"Hey Peter. What happened?"

"Samson kidnapped you and set a trap for Sylar. Sylar managed to get you out."

"Well I suppose I have that be grateful for." she smiled. She placed a hand on her stomach. "And how's my little Noah?"

Peters face suddenly broke into one of terrible pain.

"Claire…"

"No. Don't you dare look at me like that."

"Claire I'm so sorry. There was nothing we could do."

She leapt off the bed and viciously shook her head. "No, you're lying. He's fine."

She held her hand to her stomach. Why did it feel flatter than before?

"Claire, you've been unconscious for three days. He was gone. We had to take him out."

Claire spun and vomited onto the floor. This wasn't real. She was going to wake up any second now and feel her little Noah nudge against her. Peter walked towards her.

"Claire-"

"Don't touch me!" she screamed. "How could you cut my baby out of me!"

"Claire he had no heart beat for over a day. He was gone. With the way your body was healing Emma was afraid that he would petrify inside of you. We had no choice. Please Claire, I'm so sorry."

Tears had begun to pool in his eyes. She had never seen him cry before. He sat on the edge of the bed with his head in his hands. Claire just kept shaking her head. This wasn't real. Her baby wasn't dead.

"Where's Sylar?"

"He's out. He stayed with you for the first day but he's been hunting down his father."

"Samson did this."

"Yes."

That one word was like a wrecking ball in her dam of denial. She dropped to the ground and began to sob.

"No, please no. I wanted him. He's my baby." She sobbed.

"I know Claire." Peter said quietly, though he didn't come closer.

Her crying became uncontrollable. She had been hurt before. She had been hunted and beat and even killed several times. Both of her fathers were dead and so was her biological mother. But this was so much worse. She hadn't even known him, her little Noah. Yet in the one month she had known about him she had come to love him more than anything. And now he was just gone.

"Where is he?" she asked through her sobs.

"Claire… he didn't even really look like a baby yet."

"Where is he!" she screamed.

"We didn't know what to do with him, so Edgar built a little coffin. We figured that would be the best thing to do."

She gripped her hair in her hands. She had always managed to pull through. She had always found the strength to carry on. But how could she move on from this? How could this pain ever possibly heal?

"Sylar should have saved him."

"Claire" Peter chided "What could he possibly have done?"

"Anything! It was his son!"

"Claire, he may be powerful but he's not God."

She covered her face. She didn't care what he said. After a moment Peter leaned towards her.

"Get out!"

"But-"

"I said get out Peter!" she screamed

Peter withdrew, looking like he had been crushed. She didn't hear him leave but when she glanced up he was gone. She rolled to her side on the grounded and sobbed. She rubbed at her stomach, thinking that maybe if she wished hard enough, she would feel him again. There was nothing but smooth skin.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sylar burst through the front and was followed by a furious Kassy.

"He was so close! I swear if we had just gotten there a little sooner we would have had him!" Kassy snarled.

Sylar nodded as he walked into the kitchen. Ever since they had cut the baby out of Claire he hadn't spoken much. If he let himself think about it too much he knew he would break, and a broken Sylar would be bad for anyone involved. Peter and several others were sitting at the kitchen table in deep discussion. When they walked in Peter glanced up and raised his eyebrows in question. Sylar shook his head. Peter slumped down in disappointment.

"Molly really has been trying. He's found some way to completely block her out."

Sylar nodded. He already knew this. He leaned against the counter and shoved his hands deep into his pockets. He was tired of hearing the same information over and over again. He wanted results.

"So Sylar…" Peter began slowly. Sylar knew that voice. It was the voice Peter used when he didn't want him to get upset. "We were thinking that tomorrow would be the best time to have the funeral."

Sylar glared at him. "I don't want a funeral."

"I know but… she needs closure. She's destroyed."

His head snapped up. "She's awake."

Peter nodded.

"Where is she?"

Sadness grew in Peters eyes. "She's in the nursery."

Sylar turned and walked swiftly down the hall to the nursery door, but once he was there he stopped. He knew he wasn't going like what he saw but he had to do this. She was going to be hurting and he had to find some way to help. He opened the door slowly. Claire was sitting in the rocking chair which she had turned to face the window. She was clutching a teddy bear that had been in the crib to her chest. He took a slow step in.

"Don't."

He stared at her. "Don't what?"

"I know what you are coming to do and just don't. You're going to try to fix me."

"Claire, I wasn't-"

"Just stop! I'm not one of your timepieces that can just be put back together again!" she shouted.

"Claire, please…"

"Please what? Please don't yell? Please don't be mad? Well too late." She buried her face into the teddy bear. "You weren't here."

"What?"

"You weren't there. He came for me and he took us and you weren't there to stop him."

A strong sense of déjà vu came over him. "Claire I'm sorry. If I had known I never would have left."

"Yeah, well it's too late now."

"Claire, I'll find Samson."

"Will that bring my baby back to life?"

Sylar felt like he was falling. "Claire I don't know what to do." He whispered.

She stood up and turned to him. "That's because there's nothing you _can _do."

"Claire, I lost my son as well."

"No! It's not the same." She snapped. "You didn't feel him die inside of you. You didn't have him _cut out of you."_

"I know." He said quietly.

Tears began to flow from her eyes. "It's your fault! You didn't save him." She threw the teddy bear at him. "The great and powerful Sylar couldn't even stop his son from dying!" She began to throw anything she could get hands on and he didn't stop her. He let stuffed animals and brushes and even a box of diapers hit him. He deserved this. He deserved her hate and her anger. This was his fault. He didn't stop until she lifted a glass snow globe that was sitting on the dresser.

"Claire please! That was my mother's."

She looked at the snow globe and after a moment she sank to the ground. She buried her face into her hands and cried. Sylar could do nothing but watch as the only woman he had ever truly loved broke into a million unfixable pieces. He crept quietly out the door and closed it behind him. Once in the hallway he slid to floor. He barely noticed Peter standing beside him.

"How much did you hear?"

Peter shrugged "Most of it."

"She's right you know."

"No, she isn't. She's just in so much pain she doesn't know how to deal with it. You did everything you could."

"I should have done more."

"Sylar, there was nothing you could do. She'll realize that when she gets through this."

"What if she doesn't get through this?"

"She will. Just give her time."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kassy sat on the porch and chewed her lip. She had so much on her plate right now. Her biological father had killed her potential nephew. Her brother was on mad vendetta to catch and brutally kill him. She was eagerly helping in said vendetta since she wanted him dead just as much as everybody else. And nobody but Laura and she even knew who she really was. That was a lot for anybody to handle. She heard the front door open and shut. She glanced back and smiled.

"Hello Hiro."

"Kassy." He nodded. "What is wrong?"

"Why would anything be wrong?"

"You look sad."

She sighed. "I'm not necessarily sad. I'm just confused. What would you do if you found out you weren't who you always thought you were? If you had been lied to about your birth and family."

Hiro thought about it. "Well, that is sort of how it was when I discovered that I was the master of time and space."

Kassy laughed. "Yes, I'm sure it was."

"I never knew about my mother and fathers abilities. Then one day while I was riding on the subway I blinked and ended up in New York City."

"That must have been something."

"It was very exciting." Hiro nodded.

"I wish that was how my situation was. I don't even know who I am anymore."

"You are the same person you always were. Gaining knowledge about your past does not change that."

She looked at him and smiled. "How are you the perfect mix of a child and a wise man?"

Hiro looked confused. "I'm not a child!"

"No, you aren't." Kassy laughed. She then leaned in and firmly pressed a kiss to his lips. She pulled away after a second and walked back into the house. Hiro remained on the steps for a few minutes longer, looking in into the night with a small confused smile on his lips.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The next day was the funeral. Sylar stared back at his reflection. He wore a black suit and tie. He hated funerals. If it weren't for Peters and Kassy's insistence he would have buried the baby himself and been done with it. But everybody else needed closure. He found everybody waiting in the living room for him. They all wore black. Kassy looked beautiful as always, though her usual smile was not on her lips. Peter wore an almost identical suit to his. Laura and the girls were there, both girls wearing frilly black dresses. Claire was not there.

"Let's get this over with." He muttered.

They marched out the door together. Peter held the tiny coffin out in front of him. It was only a foot in length and six inches wide, far too small to believe an actually human could be inside. They walked in a somber march around the side of the lake to where a huge willow tree grew. Edgar and Mohinder had already dug a narrow but deep hole. Sylar glanced back at the house and could make out Claire watching from a window. The long wisps of the willow tree hung around them, making it seem almost magical. Peter telekinetically lowered the casket into ground.

"Would anyone like to say something?" Peter asked quietly.

Sylar looked around as people lowered their eyes. What was there to really say about something that had never come to be? Sylar suddenly began to panic. His worst fear had always been to be alone when he died. That no one would be able to say anything about him at his funeral. Was it the universe's sick joke that it was his son that would receive this fate? He stepped forward.

"I'd like to say something."

Peter looked surprised, but he nodded.

Sylar looked back at the little grave and took a deep breath. "You know, when I first heard that you were going to be coming into our lives I was a little overwhelmed. I mean, how was I supposed to be a dad? But the more I thought of it, the more I liked the idea. I mean you were going to be a little version of Claire and myself, my two favorite people."

There were several shared smiles.

"I began to think about my future with you. Maybe it was a little premature, but I couldn't help it. I thought about the first time that I would hold you. I thought about the first time you would smile at me and looked at me with Claire's eyes. I thought about how terrified I would be when you took your first steps. I probably would have used telekinesis to stop you from falling."

He took a deep breath. He could do this. He had to hold it together.

"I thought about your first words. I hoped they would be mamma. I thought about your first day at school and how scared you would be. I would tell you that you had the most powerful dad in the world, so not to be afraid. I thought about how I would make you pancakes and waffles in the morning and I would make you say 'the magic word'. You would say abracadabra and I would laugh. I would dress you up for Halloween and you would insist on being Superman. I would tell you that I was better than superman and you would roll your eyes."

This time when he took a breath it came out in a shudder.

"I would read you bed time stories and teach you to read. I would teach you to ride a bike and how to fly a kite."

He could feel the tears silently running down his face. His knees had begun to tremble.

"You would make me a better man. You already have."

He couldn't take it anymore. He fell to his knees and began to openly cry. It had been so many years since he had cried.

""I'm sorry. I'm so sorry I couldn't save you. I wish I was strong enough. I wish I could have been the father you deserved. Please forgive me."

He didn't care that everybody was watching. He let himself cry. This was not a pain he could hide. He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up. Matt was staring down at him with the most understanding face Sylar could imagine.

"It's ok." He said gently.

He watched as Peter moved the headstone to sit over the grave. It read

NOAH GRAY

To a Life Unlived

Sylar put his face onto his hands. After a moment of crying he felt two small hands take his. He looked up at Rose who stared back with large innocent eyes. She stroked his wet cheeks softly.

"Don't cry. Baby's in heaven."

She wrapped her little arms around his neck and he wrapped his arms around her. As he stood he lifted her with him, burying his face into her hair. After a while people began to walk back to the house. They hugged him and patted him on the back, trying to be comforting. Even Mohinder gave his shoulder a squeeze. Laura took Rose and eventually it was just Peter, Kassy, and himself. Kassy was crying just as hard as he had been, as though she had just lost someone from her own family. Peter also had silent tears running down his face. Before he left he embraced Sylar tightly.

"It'll be ok brother."

Sylar nodded and accepted the hug. Kassy followed behind him. She gently kissed his cheek and left without a word. Sylar stood there for a while longer. He felt like once he left he would be saying goodbye forever. He turned to go but stopped. Claire was standing just beyond the reach of the willow tree. She had a blanket wrapped around her shoulders and was bare foot. There were a million emotions in her eyes as she stared at him.

"How long were you there?"

She shrugged. "I was here the whole time."

She stared for a moment longer before running to him. He embraced her in his arms as she began to cry.

"I'm sorry. I never should have blamed you. It isn't your fault."

"Shh." He said stroking her hair.

"It was so wrong of me. I'm selfish and I didn't even think about how much you had lost. Please forgive me."

"There's nothing to forgive."

They stood like that for a long time, holding each other, over their son's grave. After what felt like hours he led her back to the house. As they walked he glanced back one last time, saying goodbye to what never came to be.


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26**

**Found**

Sylar lay in the dark room and stroked Claire's hair. He didn't really know how they ended up on the bed together but he was glad they were. She was in her pajamas and was drawing patterns on his shirt with her finger.

"Sylar?"

"Mmm?"

"Today at the funeral, I didn't realize you felt all of those things."

"Why wouldn't I?"

"I don't know. You just didn't seem like the kind of person that would break down that much. A tiger can't change its stripes."

"It can if it's a shape shifter." He smirked.

She rolled her eyes. "You know what I mean."

Sylar considered it carefully. "Even a monster loves its young."

"You aren't a monster."

He smirked. "You see me cry one time and now I'm not even a little scary?"

She laughed. It was like air after being under water for too long. He smiled and ran his lips over her hair. She pressed her body further into his.

"You are still scary to the others. But not to me."

"Well I guess that's good. I don't want to scare you Claire."

"You don't." she assured him.

He noticed her absently rubbing her stomach. The reminder was painful still. He could just make out her form in the dark.

"Claire?"

"Yes?"

"Do you… I mean would you… do you still want a baby?"

She looked up at him sharply. "What?"

"Well because if you do, if you want, I could still give you one."

He could feel her staring at him. He felt like an idiot for saying it. After a minute though she smiled.

"No, Sylar. It's ok. It's not really that I wanted a baby. It's just that I had him and I wanted _him_."

"Yeah I know what you mean."

She went back to lying on his chest. "I thought that you would be relieved that you didn't have to take on the responsibility of being a father."

"I would be lying if I said the idea of being a father hadn't scared the crap out of me. I mean I don't have a model to base it on. But I was also excited to learn."

She nodded against his chest. "I think you would have been a good dad."

He smiled sadly. "And I think you would have been a good mom."

He could feel her silent tears falling against his shirt. He ran his thumb against her cheek gently.

"Will this pain ever go away." She asked quietly.

"I don't think so." He replied.

"How can we stand an eternity of this?"

"Together."

For a while he just let her cry and he held her. She wiped her tears on the back of her hand and scooted up closer to his face.

"I love you."

He beamed at her. "I love too."

"I know." She nodded.

She pulled his face to hers and kissed him. It started off gently but soon she pulled herself up so that the top half of her body was on top of his. She dug her hands into his hair and he held her to him. Her breathing began to quicken pace as she swung one of her legs over him, straddling his hips. At the sudden shift in positions he gasped and pulled back.

"Claire, what are you doing?"

"What I want to do."

"Claire" he frowned, pulling her face back a little "You don't have to do this."

She frowned back at him. "I know that I don't have to. I want to."

"Claire you're vulnerable. I don't want to take advantage of you."

She glared at him. "Do you not want me?"

He rolled his eyes. "Of course I want you. I've wanted you for longer than I care to say. But… after everything…"

She put a hand over his mouth and looked at him with sad eyes. "Please Sylar. I need something to take the pain away, just for a little while." Her voice broke a little at the end of her sentence. Sylar made up his mind. He sat up and pulled her mouth to his.

She wrapped her legs around his waist and dug her nails into his hair. He couldn't help the growl that came from his throat. In a swift movement he spun so that she was lying flat on the bed. She gave a little gasp and her eyes widened slightly. He smiled. He was in his element here. He pulled her legs up so that he was firmly pressed against her. Even though they were both fully clothed she let out a little moan. That one little sound drove him crazy. He leaned down so that he could continue kissing her. She almost seemed impatient as she began to grind her hips against him. This time it was him that couldn't hold back a groan.

He ran kisses down her neck and onto her collar bone. She let out a gasp as he dragged the tip of his tongue up the length of her neck to her ear. She wrapped a leg around his hips and pulled him so that he was on the bottom. She looked down at him as she straddled him.

"I'm tired of you always being in control." She smiled.

"Yeah, me too." He said quietly. She pulled off her shirt and threw it to the side. He stared up at her perfectly formed body. How many times had he pictured her in his mind? How many times had he imagined this very scenario? She was more beautiful than he could have imagined. She reached back to undo her bra and he stopped her.

"Wait, do you have…" he hesitated to say the word, feeling that it could ruin the moment on so many levels. She raised her eyebrows when she realized what he meant.

"Oh, protection?"

He nodded. She frowned. "Um, no, I don't."

"Wait here." He said as he sat her down on the blankets.

He ran down the hall and stopped. Who was he going to ask? He guessed that Peter might have some if the rumors about him and Emma were true. But he couldn't exactly ask Peter for a condom that he was going to use on his niece. It might make things a little awkward. He decided Kassy would be his best bet. He knocked on her door a few times before stopping. He had forgotten how late it was and she was probably asleep. But after a few moments she opened the door. She was in shorts and a half top and her hair was sticking in all directions. She still looked good.

"Sylar?" she mumbled.

"Um, hey."

"What's wrong?" she asked as she subtly tried to fix her hair.

"Well, nothings exactly _wrong."_

She frowned. "Well what's going on? It's one in the morning."

He cringed. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have woken you."

He began to turn away but she pulled him back. "I'm already awake now. What is it?"

He stuck his hands in his pocket. Well now things were just awkward. "Um, well, I was just wondering if you have…"

"If I have what?" she asked in exasperation.

"If you have… a condom."

"Oh." She said. After a moment her eyes widened. _"Oh."_

"Um, yeah."

She scrunched up her nose like she was grossed out. "Really Sylar?"

"What? It's not like I'm your brother."

He noticed that she flinched at that. What was that about? "Wait here." She finally said.

He watched as she dug through her dresser. After a minute she stepped back to him with a little flat square.

"You're lucky I'm always prepared for the impossible."

He laughed and took it. "Thanks Anna."

She made a face. "Don't call me that after asking for a condom."

He winked as he hurried back down the halls. He stepped through the door and closed it quietly behind him. He turned to look at Claire with a wicked grin on his face and stopped. She was sound asleep, wrapped in her blankets and snoring slightly. He sighed quietly to himself. He should have known this was going to happen. He straightened the blankets over her shoulders and ran a hand gently over her face. She twitched slightly but remained asleep. He tucked the condom into the dresser drawer and settled onto the couch. Maybe they just weren't ready.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

When Peter walked down stairs that morning he smelled the distinct small of pancakes and bacon. Laura must have woken early to make them breakfast. But when he stumbled into the kitchen it wasn't Laura he found, but Sylar. Mohinder, Molly, and Edgar were all sitting at the counter and watching him with both amused and confused expressions.

"Um, what's going on?"

Mohinder nodded at Sylar. "I think he's attempting to make an almost edible meal."

"Ha ha." Sylar said sarcastically. "This is going to be the best breakfast you've ever had."

"Oh, is that another ability you picked up?"

Peter made to frown at Mohinder and tell him to leave Sylar alone, but was surprised to find that he was smiling playfully.

"Oh yes. I just had to have old Grandma Crocker's pancake recipe." Sylar smiled back.

Weird. Peter sat on the stool beside Mohinder. Rose came into the kitchen wearing a pink Barbie nightgown and dragging a purple stuffed dog. She smiled when she saw Sylar cooking.

"Yay, cakes!" she cried as she ran to him. He scooped her up in one arm.

"Well, pancakes, but close enough."

"Chocolate?" she smiled.

"Well no, blueberry. But I guess I could put chocolate in one for you."

"Chocolate." She nodded.

"Here, it's too difficult to cook while holding you."

He adjusted her so that she was sitting on his shoulders. She wrapped her hands under his chin so that she wouldn't fall. Peter couldn't help but smile. They made quite the cute pair. Soon the kitchen was full of hungry people. Sylar dished out pancakes, hash browns, eggs, and bacon. He hadn't been exaggerating on it being one of the best breakfasts Peter had ever had. It made Peter wonder if maybe it was an ability he had picked up. Today was going to be another long day of searching for Samson and Peter wanted to be ready for it. He noticed Sylar and Claire sitting together and talking quietly. He was glad they had made up. Kassy walked into the room looking a little bit frazzled. She raised her eyebrows at Sylar.

"So, how was your night together?" she asked them.

Sylar looked a little embarrassed. "Um, it was fine."

Kassy frowned. "Well I had hoped it would be a little better than fine after waking me up at one in the morning for a condom."

Peter mouth dropped open in shock. As did pretty much everyone else's. Micah looked like he was turning redder than a tomato. Kassy didn't seem to notice the effect her words had had as she dished hash browns onto her plate.

"I mean seriously, it took me three hours to fall back asleep."

Peter glared at Sylar. "Seriously?"

"What?" Sylar asked, rolling his eyes. "We didn't end up doing anything."

Kassy looked furious. "What! You woke me up for nothing?"

Sylar shrugged. "When I got back she was already asleep."

"That's it." Peter frowned. "You're changing rooms Claire."

"No I'm not Peter. I'm a grown woman who just lost her baby and you are seriously getting upset that I want to sleep with the father of my deceased child?"

Peter frowned. He really couldn't argue with that. And she was a grown woman. She might always look like a sixteen year old, but she wasn't anymore. Peter washed his dish and walked to the living room. But as he walked he noticed Emma standing near the downstairs bathroom and motioning for him to come to her.

"Emma, what is it?"

She pulled him into the bathroom and closed the door.

"I like what you're thinking." He smiled playfully.

She just rolled her eyes. "Peter I need to tell you something."

The seriousness of her tone made him frown. "What is it?"

She hesitated. "I've been too afraid to tell anybody, but I think you need to know."

"Emma, what?"

"It wasn't the electricity that killed Claire's baby. It was some sort of hard impact. I think Claire's spine or rib broke and tore into the amniotic sac. It cut the umbilical cord."

Peter felt the blood leave his face. Sylar had said that when his powers had erupted from him it had sent Claire into the wall and broken her back. If Sylar ever knew…

"You haven't told anyone else about this?"

She shook her head.

"Good. Nobody can ever know. It would destroy Sylar. We need him to blame his father for this."

Emma nodded in agreement. They discreetly left the bathroom together and walked to the living room where everybody was sitting around. Peter didn't see Claire or Kassy in the room but Sylar was lounging against the wall. Molly was in the middle of the room with her maps as usual. Peter went to sit on the couch but before he could Molly let out a gasp.

"Ah! He's so angry!" she cried.

"Who? Samson?" Matt asked.

Molly nodded, her handing moving around the map. "Ah! He's… he's blocking me again! Here!" she cried, dropping her finger onto the map. Everyone gathered around.

"New York?" Sylar frowned.

Molly nodded, her eyes still closed. "He's gone from me now but he was right, oh!" she gasped, her eyes snapping open and confusion all over her face.

"What is it?" Peter asked urgently. "Was it Samson again?"

She shook her head in wonder. "No, but for a second I saw…"

"Who?" Mohinder urged.

Her eyes snapped up to Peter. "Noah Bennet."


	27. Chapter 27

**A new chapter! Finally! I'm sorry for taking so long I've been extremely busy with work and school! I hope you like this one. There are only going to be a few more chapters to this fic. Let me know what you think in the comments! **

**Chapter 27**

Sylar paced back and forth. He and Peter had decided to not tell Claire about Noah. He didn't want to give her false hope for something that might not even be true. If Noah was alive Sylar was planning on doing whatever it took to get him back for Claire. After all that she had lost she deserved this. Also, they had a pretty good idea of where Samson's headquarters were. From what Molly had been able to tell it was right in the middle of New York City. Most likely so they would just rip the whole building down. Sylar was still considering it, but Peter kept going on about innocent lives lost and blah blah blah. As long as his father was dead and Claire and his friends were alright he didn't care. They were going to have to make a plan. A very well thought out plan that his father wouldn't just sense from a mile away. The specials from the other house were coming over tomorrow to plan. Sylar was pacing back and forth when there was a light tap at the door.

Claire peeked in and smiled. "Hey."

"Oh, Claire, hey." He smiled as he forced himself to stop pacing.

"What's wrong?" she asked as she stepped into the room.

"Nothing's wrong." He shrugged casually. "I'm just anxious about getting my father."

She nodded as she sat on the bed. "I know what you mean. I feel like if we can just kill him everything will be ok."

Sylar couldn't help but laugh. "How long ago was it that those were your exact thoughts about me? You all thought that killing me would solve all of your problems."

"That isn't fair." Claire frowned. "This is different. Your father is never going to want redemption."

"Oh I know, and he won't get the chance too. I plan on killing him way before that."

Claire nodded. "I'm glad we didn't kill you."

"Well gee, Claire, that's got to be the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me." Sylar said as he rolled his eyes.

She laughed. "You know what I mean."

"Yeah I do. We've had this discussion a lot." And to be honest he didn't want to have it again. All it did was remind him of the people he had killed.

She must have noted the growing look of despair on his face because she got up and stood in front of him. She put her hands on his chest and smiled.

"Sylar, I love you."

He couldn't help but smile. "I don't think I'll ever get over my amazement at that. It's too hard to believe."

"Well believe it." She said as she leaned up and kissed him.

He entwined his arms around her as he kissed her deeper. He felt her hands twine into his hair and it caused his pulse to quicken. He lifted her and she wrapped her legs around his waist. He walked forward so that her back was pressed against the wall. She gave a little gasp and pulled her mouth away from his and pressed her hands to his chest. For a moment he thought that she was telling him to stop but when he looked at her he realized that she was trying to take his shirt off. With a wicked smile he helped her pull it over his head and then yanked her shirt off as well. He tossed it to the side and began to kiss the rest of her body. He kissed down her neck and onto her collar bone going lower with each kiss. He could hear her breathing pick up. He slid down so that he could kiss her stomach but kept her in place with telekinesis. He kissed as far down as her hips. Her hands wound into his hair and he smiled up at her with raised eyebrows.

She looked anxious and nervous. He stood so that they were face to face.

"Claire, if you don't-"

"Sylar, if you say we don't have to if I don't want to I will seriously punch you in the face."

He laughed. "A little kinky aren't you? I think I'd like that, so don't make promises."

She rolled her eyes and kissed him again. He turned and dropped her back onto the bed. He stood over her looking down with small evil smile. She sat up on her elbows and he dropped down with a hand on either side of her so that their faces were only inches apart.

"You aren't going to fall asleep this time, are you?"

"Not even a little tired." She smiled.

"Good."

He leaned in to kiss her some more but stopped. He sent a small flick of electricity at the three candles that sat on the dresser and mentally flicked out the lights. Claire raised an eyebrow.

"I want to set the right mood." He shrugged.

"Just come here." She smiled, pulling him down to her.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

When Claire woke up the next morning she momentarily forgot where she was. But as she rolled over and felt another warm body she remembered and smiled. She looked up at his sleeping face. He looked so peaceful. She had always heard that the first time was painful but thanks to her lack of pain sensors all she had been able to feel was pleasure. She ran her hands through the hairs on his chest as she stared at him. He really was very attractive. Even his eyebrows had their own allure. She was thinking of all the other things about him that were alluring when her door flew open.

"Come on Claire, get up OH MY GOD!" Peter shouted. He seemed to be momentarily frozen as his eyes jumped from Claire to Sylar.

"Peter!" Claire cried as she frantically pulled the blankets up to cover herself "Haven't you ever heard of knocking.

Peter slapped a hand over his eyes. "Maybe you should leave a warning or something!"

Sylar had woken up and looked groggily from Peter to Claire before smiling. "Oh hey Peter, what's up?"

"Could you _please_ put some clothes on?" Peter said between gritted teeth.

"You know" Sylar yawned "If you don't want to see naked people maybe you shouldn't barge into rooms unannounced."

"Maybe you should lock the door."

"I must have over looked that." Sylar said as he stood up. His pants flew across the room and into his hand. He pulled them on and tossed Claire her robe.

"Ok you can turn around now without offending your delicate eyes."

Peter turned and glared at Sylar. "I'm sorry that I don't like seeing my niece naked and in bed with you."

It looked like Sylar was going to reply so Claire quickly intervened.

"Ok ok, that's enough you two. Why did you come up here Peter?"

"The other specials from the other house are coming soon and I just thought you would want to be ready."

"Ok, we'll be down in a second."

Peter nodded and gave them both one last glance before walking out. Claire turned and frowned at Sylar.

"Do you have to push his buttons?"

"What other fun do I have?" Sylar smiled.

Claire shook her head as she pulled some pants on. "He thinks of you as a brother you know."

"Yeah and I think of him the same."

"You could act more like it."

"I don't see how I possibly could. I was treating him just like a brother. Except, you know, being in bed with his niece. Because if we were brothers that would make you _my_ niece and well, that would be disgusting."

Claire looked at him curiously. "If you found out that you were actually related to me would that change how you feel?"

A strange look crossed Sylars face. "We aren't. I know who my parents are."

"Well yeah I know, but what if? Just hypothetically."

He seemed to really think about it. "You know, I wish I could say that it would change anything. I wish I could say that I wouldn't love you like this anymore, just so that I don't feel like a total creep. But I know that isn't true. It wouldn't matter."

Claire nodded. "Me too."

He looked truly surprised. "Really? I thought your moral center wouldn't allow you to still love me."

She shrugged. I can't just turn my feelings off like a light switch."

He smiled. "Yeah, you're telling me."

She jumped up and took his hand. "Come on, let's go down stairs."

Once down stairs Claire found that the living room was packed full. Between all of them and all of the others from the other house there had to be nearly fifty of them. Claire saw Laura standing near the kitchen looking a little overwhelmed. She pulled Sylar along with her as she made her way to Laura. She found that Sylar was good at separating the crowd as people leapt out of his way. She figured he liked that.

"Hey Laura."

"Oh, hey Claire."

"Are you ok?"

Laura nodded. "I'm just not used to having so many people in here. Especially not ones who can all do things like that." She said as she nodded to a teenage boy who had made a small tornado rise from his hand.

Claire smiled "Don't worry, if we come up with a plan fast enough we'll all be out of your hair soon."

Laura raised her eyebrows and shook her head. "Oh honey, that's not what I meant. I've actually come quite attached to you all."

"I know, we love you too Laura." Claire nodded.

She noticed that Kassy had climbed onto the couch and was now trying to get everyone's attention, though it was nearly impossible to hear her over everyone else. Sylar noticed too. He put his fingers to his lips and let out an ear splitting whistle. Everyone turned to stare at him with wide eyes.

"Kassy's trying to talk so listen up!"

Kassy smiled. "Thank you Sylar. Ok, so you all know why we're here. We need to come up with a plan to get into Samson's building and get rid of him once and for all. He will have a lot of security, most of which will be special. We need to find the most effective solution that won't get anybody killed. He also might have prisoners there, so we need to factor that in."

Claire listened as they went around the room and everyone gave their ideas. It took much longer than she would have thought it would. People kept arguing about why something would or wouldn't work. After three hours Claire was glad that her legs couldn't hurt, because she was sure they'd be killing her by now. Sylar kept getting restless. Every ten minutes he would float off the ground and stretch his legs.

Finally, after almost five hours, they had a plan. Peter turned to Sylar.

"Sylar, use your ability. Will it work?"

Sylar looked confused. "Which ability?"

"_Your _ability." Peter clarified.

"Oh." Sylar nodded.

Claire knew that Peter meant Sylar's original ability. She watched as he drew their plan out in his head. After a second he nodded.

"Well, there are some unknown factors that I can't account for, but if everything goes as we suspect it should work."

Peter nodded. "Ok, good. Then tomorrow we leave for New York."

"Tomorrow?" Tracy asked, looking surprised. "Why so soon?"

"There's no point in waiting." Kassy shrugged. "We have everything we need and holding off isn't going to do any good. It's either going to work or it's not."

Several people around the room looked nervous. Claire had to admit that she was feeling anxious herself. If their plan didn't work there was a good chance they would all end up dead. She chewed at her lip in worry. She felt Sylar's arm wrap around her and pull her to him.

"You don't have to come if you don't want to Claire. I would actually really prefer if you'd stay."

She shook her head. "No way. I'm not letting everyone I love run off and fight Samson while I stay here. I'll be ok, I can't die remember?"

"You can if my father takes you're ability." He frowned.

"Then we won't let him near me." She said as she leaned up and kissed him.

He didn't look convinced but Claire walked away before he could argue. She spent the rest of her day trying to relax. She watched some T.V. and walked around the lake. She even let Kassy paint her nails. They ate dinner and she curled up on the couch to watch a movie with everyone else. It wasn't until the movie was over that she realized she hadn't seen Sylar in a while.

"Kassy, do you know where Sylar is?"

Kassy shook her head. "I haven't seen him."

Claire went upstairs and looked for him, but he wasn't there. She went through all of the rooms, calling out his name. She walked downstairs and looked in the nursery and bathroom. She was about to give up when she heard laughing. It sounded like Lily and Rose. She walked to the playroom and quietly pushed the door open. Lily and Rose were both dressed as fairy princesses and were running around waving wands. And sitting on one of the beds was Sylar. He had a paper crown on his head and was tossing small rubber balls into the air. The girls were hitting them and sending them flying around the room.

"Hurry, before the meteors fall on you!" Sylar said as he threw two balls at once. The girls laughed and smacked them away with their wands.

""Prince Sylar, we need to get inside!" Lily exclaimed.

They both leapt on onto the bed. Lily climbed onto his back and held on like a monkey and Sylar held Rose. He leapt off the bed and climbed under a makeshift blanket fort they had made.

"We have to be quiet or the dragon will hear us." Lily whispered.

"We could always fight the dragon." Sylar suggested.

Both girls shook their heads. "It's too strong!" Rose cried.

"Oh yeah?" Sylar smiled. He burst from the fort with a roar. "Come on dragon, fight me!"

Rose giggled and ran after him. "I'm the dragon I'm the dragon!"

She jumped at him and he caught her. He spun her around and dropped her on the bed. Lily climbed on to the bed and both girls began to bounce up and down.

"Bad dragon!" Rose scolded playfully.

"Oh yeah? What are you going to do about it?" he asked.

With a smile both girls leapt through the air at him. He caught them and they fell backwards onto the soft mattress. Claire couldn't help but laughed. Sylar's head snapped up when he heard her.

"Oh, Claire. I didn't see you there." He said, looking a little embarrassed.

"I know." she smiled.

"Come play!" Rose cried.

"No, actually your mom said to be in bed by nine and it's already nine thirty."

"Aw man." Lily pouted. "Just ten more minutes?"

"No, I've spoiled you enough. Come on, climb into bed."

Both girls climbed into their beds which were beside each other. He tucked Lily in first. He looked shocked when she reached her arms up for a hug. Claire knew that he was self-conscious about showing affection but he reached down and hugged Lily anyways. As he pulled away he smiled and patted her head. He walked to Rose and she reached up for a hug as well. He hugged her but this time when he went to pull away she kissed his cheek.

"Goodnight daddy!"

Claire was so shocked she felt her mouth fall open. Sylar looked just as shocked. Rose smiled at him as though nothing was wrong. Sylar didn't seem to be able to find the right thing to say, so instead he just tucked the blankets tighter around her and kissed her forehead.

"Goodnight Rose."

When he turned Claire saw that he looked sad. He followed Claire out and closed the door behind him after shutting off the lights.

"That was really sweet, you playing with them."

He just shrugged. "Yeah, well… they seem to really enjoy it and honestly I kind of do too. I don't have to be myself for once. Besides, they don't have a father and I don't have…" he trailed off, not wanted to finish his sentence.

She leaned up and kissed him. "I know. Come on, let's go to bed." She held her hand out to him.

He took it after a moment and nodded. "Yeah let's go."


	28. Chapter 28

**New chapter! I hope you all enjoy it! Let me know in in the comments! **

**Chapter 28**

**In The Lions Den**

They stood on their corner of the busy New York street and waited. Sylar leaned against the concrete wall and scanned people faces as they passed by. They were all so ordinary and mundane. Claire stood close by with her hands deep in her pockets. She was chewing her lip and looking around with jumpy eyes.

"Are you ok?" he asked.

She glanced at him and gave a small smile. "Yeah I'm fine. Just a little nervous."

"Don't be. We'll win this and I'll kill my father."

She frowned slightly but nodded. Kassy was off figuring out which building it was exactly that Samson was operating in. They knew it was somewhere very close nearby. Sylar tapped his foot impatiently. He wanted this to be done. Once this was all over her could relax and just be with Claire. They could maybe get a place together or they could even travel if she wanted. He could have an infinite amount of money and he could give her everything she desired. She would never want for anything again. Though if he knew her, and he did, she would probably want something like a job.

He smiled as he shook his head. She really was a strange one. She was perhaps the only woman in the world who would rather work or go to school instead of traveling and relaxing. Not that it was a bad thing. She was independent and strong, and those were two of the things that had made him fall in love with her.

A man walking by stepped to close and ran into him. The man turned to give him an angry glare. Typical New Yorker. Runs into you while you are just standing there and looks at you like you are the evil one. Well, if the man wanted a bad guy… Sylar gave the man his most dangerous look, throwing in a touch of crazy to his eyes. The man became obviously more frightened and scurried off. He heard a small laugh. Claire shook her head at him.

"You really like making people frightened of you."

"Well how else am I supposed to get respect?"

"How else indeed." She smirked.

Sylar turned his attention back to the streets. Where were Peter and Kassy? They were taking too long. Hiro had teleported them all two at a time to different street corners within a one mile radios. Peter and Kassy had gone first. They had figured even in New York people would notice if thirty people just appeared in the middle of the street. He was beginning to worry when he saw her striding towards him.

They had said to wear normal street clothes so as to not draw attention, but he noticed that he and Kassy were dress similarly. She had her hair pulled back into a high pony tail away from her face. She wore a tight black tank top and dark blue jeans and she had chosen black biker boots. He glanced down at his own black t-shirt, dark blue jeans, and black boots. They looked like some sort of special ops. Peter just wore a normal t-shirt and jeans, and so did Claire. They nodded to each other as they reached speaking distance.

"Did you find where they are?" he asked.

Kassy nodded and looked at Peter, who was looking uncomfortable. Sylar raised his eyebrows.

"Well? Where is it?"

Peter sighed. "It's in Kirby Plaza."

Sylar stared at him. "Kirby Plaza? Why the hell would Samson choose Kirby Plaza? It's too obvious."

"Maybe that's exactly why he chose it." Kassy shrugged. "He knew you would think it was too obvious a place."

Sylar considered it. "I suppose it's possible."

"Let's go. I've already sent a text to everybody else and they are going to meet us there."

Sylar and Claire followed behind Kassy and Peter. Sylar had to admit he was a little nervous about going to Kirby Plaza. The last time they had all been there it had been to kill him after all. Even though he knew it was an illogical fear, he felt like if they were there again, they would all remember why they hated him. They reached their destination a few minutes later. It was exactly how he remembered it. The rest of the specials were already there. Kassy walked up to the red haired girl named Leah.

"Are we hidden?"

Leah nodded. "Yes. Nobody out here or inside can see us."

Sylar had to admit that was an impressive ability. To be able to alter perceptions, and make people see what you wanted them to see. It made the monster inside him twitch. He pushed it back, keeping that gate closed. Now wasn't the time to be collecting abilities. There was a far more important goal here. He had to kill his father. Nobody else here would be able to do it. He noticed Hiro standing nearby and he nudged him.

"Hey, remember that time you stabbed me with a samurai sword right there? Ah good times."

Hiro frowned. "You were trying to blow up New York City."

"Um, no, that was Peter. I don't understand why you people always forget that."

Hiro just rolled his eyes. People really did need to get that fact straight.

"Ok people keep to the plan." Kassy called.

They moved towards the building with Kassy and Sylar at the lead. The filed in through the front doors. The lobby was completely empty.

"I don't think we need you anymore Leah." Sylar said. "He already knows we are here."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Claire could feel the hairs stand up on the back of her neck. The building was too quiet.

"He's still here. I can sense him now." Kassy said.

"Yeah, he doesn't want to miss the chance of victory. He wants to catch us and he wants us to see him do it. Besides, I think he wants this over just as much as we do." Sylar frowned.

"He's crazy." Mohinder remarked.

"A little slow there aren't you buddy?" Sylar said as he rolled his eyes.

"Alright" Peter said as he turned to them "Break into your designated groups. Take down any one in your way. The goal here is to find Samson. Don't forget, if you find him, don't take him on yourself. Get Sylar."

Sylar nodded. Claire watched him, feeling worried. He seemed confident that he could take on his father, but what if he couldn't. What if Samson killed him? She couldn't handle that. She had just learned to love him, and to have him ripped away would destroy her heart. She reached out and took his hand. He glanced down at her and smiled. He seemed at ease enough, though she knew what a good actor he was. They broke up into their groups and headed for their designated floors. There were ten floors, which meant that they were in groups of three. She, Sylar, and Peter would all go to the top floor. That sounded like the most likely place for Samson to be. Everybody else would secure the other floors to make it as safe as possible.

They walked to the elevator and pushed the button. Nothing happened. Big surprise.

"We'll have to take the stairs." Peter frowned.

The walked into the stair well as a group and looked up. It looked like an awful long walk.

"Ok, when you get to your floors, make sure that they are secure."

Everyone nodded. Claire saw Kassy take Sylar hand. He smiled at her and nodded. Kassy was taking the fifth floor with Hiro and Mohinder. Claire knew that she would be alright but she could tell that Sylar was worried for her. Claire didn't try to pretend to understand their relationship. Together they began to walk up. When the others would reach their floor they would give a brave face before walking through the door. They moved upwards quickly. Soon they were at the fifth floor. Kassy hugged Sylar and kissed Peters cheek. She ran a hand over Claire's hair before nodding. She turned and disappeared through the door.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The door shut with a click behind Kassy. Mohinder stood to her left and Hiro to her right. The hallway before them seemed to stretch out endlessly. Half of the lights above them had been broken, giving everything an eerie dim feeling. They began to move down the hall. The lights flickered overhead as they walked. Hiro was on edge, ready to stop time at a moment's notice. They reached the first door and Kassy tried the handle. It was locked.

"Go down the hall and check the other doors." She instructed them.

They nodded and walked away. She tried it again. It felt like something was up against the other side. Using Mohinder's power she pushed hard. It slid open after a little motivation. She walked in and saw that a large desk had been pushed against the back. She stepped further into the room. The lights were very dim, which made it difficult to see. The room was nearly empty, with only one thing lying on the floor near the back wall. It was small and looked like a picture frame.

Kassy approached it slowly. Any manner of traps could be laid for her. She reached down and picked it up. For some reason she was terrified of turning it over. She didn't want to see the picture it held. Taking a deep breath she flipped it over. All of the breath seemed to be sucked from her lungs. Her head began to swim as she stared down at the picture. It showed her mother, her brother, and herself all smiling happily at the camera. Why would this be here? She was so caught up in her confusion she didn't hear the door shut behind her.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Claire followed everybody else up the stairs quickly. They had just passed the eighth floor and were moving to the ninth. Their crowd had quickly thinned out and she couldn't help but wonder how the others were doing. They reached the ninth floor and those who were assigned to that floor quickly moved through the door. Claire was about to follow Sylar and Peter up the stairs when she stopped. She looked at the ninth door. For some reason that she couldn't explain, she wanted to go through it. It was as though something was pulling her towards it. She walked to the door and pulled it open. A long hallway stretched out in front of her.

"Claire?" Sylar asked from behind her. She ignored him. She began to walk down the hall. She could hear Sylar and Peter running after her.

"Claire what are you doing? This isn't our floor?" Peter frowned.

She just kept walking.

"Claire, please answer me." Sylar said as he stepped in front of her. His voice showed high signs of worry. She pushed her way around him.

"We have to go this way." She muttered quietly.

She reached a cross section. The others had taken a right, but she felt that she had to go left. She turned and marched down another hall.

"What do we do?" she heard Peter ask.

"Just follow her." Sylar said.

She walked until she reached another hallway. She could see that along the walls were several large lit windows that seemed to look into rooms. She frowned slightly and approached one. Her heart nearly stopped. Behind the window, sitting on a small cot, was her father.

"Dad." she choked out. It couldn't be real. Her father was dead. She had accepted it. Yet there he was. His head was leaning back against the wall and his eyes were shut. Sylar and Peter had both run up to the window now and were staring in with shock.

"This means my mom could be here." Peter said as he ran down the hall.

She barely heard him. She ran to the door and tried the handle. It was locked. She began to furiously yank at the door, as if she could pull it off its hinges with pure force. She saw a key pad.

"A card! We need a card!" she said, looking around as though might see one lying about. Sylar punch his fist through the panel. The door opened with a click. Claire stumbled in as her father's eyes snapped open. She stopped half way into the room as they stared at each other. This couldn't be real. Her father was dead. She was afraid to accept it, because if it turned out to be fake she wouldn't be able to bare it. Her breathing was heavy, as though she had been on a long run. Slowly her father stood up. He looked just like she had remembered him. She smiled widely.

"Dad."

He walked to her and as she reached up to hug him he punched her square in the face.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kassy slowly blinked her eyes open. The last thing she remembered was looking at that picture. Her eyes snapped open and she sat up. She was tied to a chair and her hands were pressed to her chest. The chains that held her in place were a faint blue color.

"Awake at last."

She looked sharply to the left and there he stood. He wore a black expensive looking suit and tie and he leaned on a dark wood cane. His dark eyes appraised her and his graying hair was slicked back.

"Samson." She sneered.

"Don't make faces dear, it doesn't suit your lovely face."

"Don't you call me dear." She snapped.

"And why not?"

"Because I am not your dear."

"Hmm, no, but you are my daughter."

She felt the blood drain from her face. She had really been hoping he hadn't known that.

"How do you know who I am?"

"Oh, I've known for a while. Longer than you."

"How long?" she asked breathlessly.

He smiled as he watched her. "Oh you are a very smart girl. I think you have concluded some things by now."

"It was you. You killed my mother."

He clapped his gloved hands slowly. "See? Very intelligent. Just like your brother. Though you seem to have more street smarts."

"Why?" she choked out.

He frowned. "Why what?"

"Why did you kill her? She was leaving you alone. She wasn't bothering you. You didn't have to kill her."

He sighed. "Oh but I did. She took something very important to me. You see, after giving up my first child I decided I had made a mistake. I needed a legacy after all. So I went in search of a woman. A young woman who would let her heart get in the way of her brain. A woman who was lovely yet bright. She was the first one I met and I chose her. The only reason I wanted her was to have another child. I was pleased when she told me of her pregnancy. I would finally have another chance at a child. But then she ran. I was furious. I looked for her but I could not find her. Then I got sick. I had to stop looking."

At this point he moved around to stand in front of her.

"But then a miracle happened. My son found me. At first I thought he would just be a burden. And he was. So damaged. But then I saw what he could do. He could heal. He could save me. I tried to take his power but I was weak. He defeated me, but did not kill me. I took the blood from the arrows I had shot at him and I cured myself. Then I went after you. I knew that I couldn't take Sylar alone. I knew you would be powerful. But it was your mother I found, not you. You weren't home yet. She taunted me, said that I would never have you. So I killed her. It was a foolish move. The neighbors heard the struggle and called the cops. I never did see you. But then I went after you again. This time that stupid little kid got in the way and you escaped again."

At the mention of her mother and brother tears had begun to flow down Kassy's cheeks. She hated him. She would kill him.

"But I saw how strong willed you were. How stubborn and moral. I knew you would never fight for me. So I had an idea. If I couldn't have my own child, I would take all of yours. I would mate all of the specials I could find and create my own personal army. They would all be mine."

"You are insane." She snarled.

"No, I am a visionary." He leaned down close to her. "I will mate you and then I will have grandchildren. I will raise them as my own. Maybe I'll even mate you and Sylar and see what happens." He smirked.

She screamed as she tried to break free. Her powers weren't working. He just laughed at her.

"You are just as dramatic as your brother. I suppose you both got that from me."

"I will kill you! I will destroy you for what you did to my mother and Andrew!"

"I don't think so darling." He smiled.

A man stepped from behind a wall. He was tall and pale and had eerie blue eyes. He glared as he stared at her.

"This is Padrow. He has the nifty ability of controlling another's powers while still in their body."

She looked from one to the other. "I don't understand."

Samson's face lit up in a smile. "He's going to help you kill your brother."


	29. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29! After this there will only be one more chapter! So let me know what you think! This fic is coming to and end. **

**Chapter 29**

**Defeat **

Claire was nearly knocked over by the force of her father's punch. She blinked away the stars and rubbed her jaw. She saw Sylar step forward angrily, as though about to punch her father in return. She held up her hand, telling him not to come in. He looked like he wanted to argue but instead he just nodded. She looked back at her father. She didn't think he had even noticed Sylar. He was glaring angrily at her.

"Dad?"

"Can't you think of something a little more original?" he sneered.

"I don't know what you are talking about."

"I mean really. Showing me my daughter every week? I believed it the first time but now it's just getting old."

"Dad, it's really me. It's Claire."

"Yeah, of course it is. And I'm actually sitting on a beach in Mexico. Get the hell out of my head."

"Dad I'm not in your head! It's really me! We've come to get you out!"

"Just shut up." He said as he turned away.

Claire racked her brain. How could she get him to believe it was really her? The she knew.

"Popsicles."

She saw his back stiffen. "What?"

"Every summer since I can remember you and I would go out and eat popsicles in the backyard. We would see who could eat theirs the fastest without getting a brain freeze."

Her father turned and stared at her. There was a bit of hope in his eyes, but he looked as if he was frightened to believe.

"When I was thirteen I helped you pick out glasses. We went through a whole stack before I picked the horn rimmed ones."

A smile pulled at his lips.

"Now how would they know that?" she asked.

"They wouldn't." he nodded as he walked towards her. He pulled her into a hug and she buried her face into his neck. She never thought she would feel his hugs again. He pulled away and looked at her.

"Claire, what are you doing here?"

"I already told you. We are here to get you out. And to kill Samson."

He nodded. "And who's we?"

"Well me for starters."

Her father's head snapped up at Sylars voice. Claire watched as the smile slid from his face and was replaced with hatred. Oh boy, here it comes. Noah pulled her so that she was standing behind him.

"You. Get the hell away from us."

Sylar sighed heavily and frowned. "Look Noah, I know that we've been had our offs and our, well, offs but things are different now. I'm a good guy."

Noah laughed humorlessly. "You? A good guy? You don't have a good bone in your body."

Anger flashed across Sylars face. "You know, it's people like you saying things like that that made me believe it in the first place. And I'll have you know that I've been helping Claire and Peter for the past few months."

Her father looked down at her. "Claire, has he hurt you?"

She sighed and shook her head. "No dad. He's telling the truth."

Noah shook his head. "He has actually got you to believe his lies."

Anger boiled up in Claire. "He isn't lying!"

"Yeah well did you know that Samson is his father? I bet he didn't mention that." Noah said, looking like he had struck a winning blow.

"Actually, we have known that for a while. Ever since we escaped from our facility more than two months ago. Sylar told us right away."

Her frowned. "Claire, they are probably working together."

Claire knew that she couldn't be mad at him. He didn't know any better. Yet she couldn't help the fury that rose up in side of her at such and accusation.

"No dad. Samson has done things to Sylar that are unforgivable. All Sylar wants to do is kill him."

"Claire he is a liar and a murderer! He killed Nathan and Meredith and your friend and so many other people! Have you forgotten about that?"

"Of course not! But I've forgiven him!"

"Forgiven him? How could you do that?"

"Because I love him!"

All of the color drained from Noahs face. Whoops. She hadn't wanted to tell him this way.

"Look dad, now isn't the time to be fighting about this. We need to find Samson and you need to get out of here. We can talk about it later."

She walked around him and took Sylars hand. Her father stared at their intertwined hands and looked like he was going to be sick. As they walked out the door Sylar leaned down to whisper in her ear.

"You are so hot right now."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sylar pulled Claire out into the hall and he could hear her father following close behind. Having Claire shout at her father that she loved him was pretty much the best thing that had ever happened to him, next to her actually feeling that way. It meant she felt it enough to tell Company Man Noah Bennet.

He saw Peter coming down the hall followed by a large group of other people. He recognized Angela Petrelli as well as Janice Parkman and little Matty Parkman. He didn't care about Angela, but he was extremely happy that Janice and Matty were ok. He had spent some time with them, though not under good circumstances, but he had actually come to care about them a little. Now that he was a little saner he was actually able to acknowledge that. And he would never, ever tell Claire what he had done with Janice while in Matt's body. He realized that was a pretty big line he had crossed.

He nodded at Peter. "We have to get them all out of here."

Peter nodded. "Yeah. Noah, do you think you can lead them all to the bottom level?"

"I can do that."

"Good let's go." Peter said as he half carried Angela along with him. She didn't look like she was in very good shape. They walked quickly down the halls with Sylar at the lead. Half way to the stair doors they met up with the other specials. They had found other captives as well. They walked at a quick pace. They rounded the corner to the door and Sylar stopped in his tracks, causing others to run into him.

Kassy was standing just in front of the door. Her hair had come undone from its ponytail and was hanging wildly around her face. Tears were running down her cheeks and her eyeliner was smudged and running. She stared right at him with her large eyes. They held a mix of fear and horror desperation. Something was very wrong.

"Kassy? What are you doing?"

She let out a sob. "Sylar help me."

"Help you? With what?"

She let out a cry as her hand shot up and pointed at him. Using his mind he pushed everybody back.

"Sylar, he's controlling me." She cried.

"You have to fight him Kassy." Sylar urged.

"Oh, but she can't." said a voice from some overhead speakers. "She's not as strong as you."

"Let her go!" Sylar snarled.

His father chuckled. "Such passion. I can see that you really care about her. And to think, that came about without you even knowing she's your little sister."

Sylar's eyes snapped back to Kassy. She was crying harder now. Sister? What was Samson talking about?

"Oh, how rude it is that she didn't tell you."

"Sylar, I swear I only just found out recently! I didn't know the whole time!" Kassy cried.

Sylar was trying to understand, yet was finding it very difficult. How could Kassy be his sister? Well, he knew _how_. But just, how? Staring at her now he could see it. All of their similarities. But why hadn't she told him? Had she been using him? But that made no sense.

"Sylar."

He looked up at the sound of her voice.

"Please Sylar, you have to trust me. I would never hurt you. I was afraid to tell you but it's true. You are my big brother."

Sylar took a deep breath. Now was not the time to freak out about this. And he did trust Kassy. No matter what Samson said, he knew Kassy would never intentionally hurt him.

"Samson, I said let her go."

"Or what?" he taunted.

"Or I will draw out your death even more."

His father just chuckled. "Come and try."

Just then a bolt of fire shot from Kassy's hand. Sylar leapt aside and barely avoided it. He watched as Kassy's eyes went blank and another strong sense of Déjà vu hit him. Kassy's eyes suddenly took on a furious rage that he knew wasn't hers. Someone else was controlling her now. She settled into a fighting stance. Oh great.

"Get back!" he shouted at the others, just as she raced towards him. She shot off two fire bolt simultaneously. He avoided one but the other caught his shoulder. He grimaced in pain as he raised his hand. He didn't want to hurt Kassy but he had to stop her. He shot a bolt of electricity at her that sent her flying back. He used his telekinesis to throw her against the door, but he didn't anticipate her using her own telekinesis to drag him towards her at the same time. She hit the wall and he was only barely able to stop himself from ramming right into her. He pulled away from her while she pulled him towards her. It was a really strange feeling.

She seemed to tire of it as he let him go. He stumbled back and regained his balance. She began slashing the air with her hand. He realized a second too late what she was doing. He felt the deep gashes dig into his skin around his shoulders. She was aiming for his neck. That was the only real way to stop him after all. He had to do something and fast, before her aim became more accurate. How could he stop her? Of course. She had Claire's ability. He looked around quickly for anything he could use. He saw a video camera hooked to one of the walls and ripped it off. He held it in his hand, the jagged part sticking out wards. Kassy leapt forward to give another lash and he took his chance. Moving faster than he thought he could he stepped around her. He brought the jagged piece down hard into the back of her head. She let out a strangled sound before collapsing into his arms. Everybody else ran to gather around. He lifter her and dropped her into Noah's arms who looked both confused and disgusted.

"Get everyone out of here." Sylar snarled. He turned to look at the blonde haired girl named Trisha. "Is he still here?"

She nodded. "I've had my force field around this building since we got here. He isn't going anywhere."

"Good." He sneered. They walked out into the staircase and Noah began ushering everyone down the stairs. Sylar turned to Claire.

"Go with them."

She shook her head. "No way. I'm not leaving you to go fight your father alone."

"I won't be alone. I have Peter."

"I don't care! I won't leave you!"

Sylar grabbed at his hair. "God why are you so stubborn! Claire, you can't help us! You have no offensive ability! You will only be in the way!"

He could see the hurt he had caused and he hated himself for it. But he had to get her out of here. He couldn't let his father get near her.

"Go!" he said, giving her a nudge towards the stairs. He turned and ran up the stair with Peter following close behind. He didn't look back to see if she did what he said. He knew her ego would be too hurt to follow him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Claire stood in the stairwell for several minutes. It had hurt what Sylar had said. But the more she thought about it, the more she realized he had only said it to get her to leave. She took a deep breath and walked decidedly towards the stairs.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sylar burst through the last door at the top of the stairs. It opened into a huge office that covered the entire floor. His father stood in the middle surrounded by eight body guards. He really looked irritated.

"Clever, keeping me trapped here. I really hoped you wouldn't get past your sister."

"Yeah, and I always hoped to be built like The Rock. We can't all have what we want."

His father shook his head. "Always with the wit."

Sylar shrugged. "I've been told it's my greatest asset next to my, well, ass."

Samson sneered. "You bore me."

Sylar faked offense. "I bore you? Well that's honestly a new one."

"Kill them." Samson said to his guards.

The eight men rushed them at once. Sylar smiled at his father's feeble attempts to kill him without actually fighting him. Such a coward. He took out the first two men out with a simple flick, but the next was not so easy. He could pull round blades right from his wrist and throw them with great accuracy. Sylar found himself using telekinesis to avoid being decapitated. This made it difficult to fight the other man at the same time. He could see Peter fighting the others as fast as he could.

The other man seemed to have the power to form blue energy. He used it to wrap around Sylar and try to constrict him. Sylar pushed against it. He didn't like having to focus on two things at once, it left room for error. He tried to push the man back but momentarily lost concentration of the disks. He flicked it to one aside, narrowly avoiding it hitting his neck. He heard a small gasp behind him and turned. Claire stood near the door way. Her eyes were wide and mouth had fallen open in an oval. He stared in confusion for a moment before her head slid from her shoulders. The blade he had deflected had cut straight through her neck.

Sylar felt like the world was going in slow motion. He thought that Hiro must have slowed things down. He felt as though something was being ripped from his chest. His Claire tumbled to the side and fell in a heap onto the ground.

"No." was all he was able to whisper.

She couldn't be. She wasn't. His love couldn't be dead. It was impossible. They had eternity together. She had told him she loved him. He slowly moved towards her and dropped to the ground. He lifted her head in his hands. It wasn't real. It just couldn't be. He would wake up any second now. He would even be glad to wake up back at the facility and find that this had all been a dream. No Kassy, no freedom. No Claire loving him. He would accept that all gladly for Claire to not be dead.

"NO!" he heard his father scream, as his only chance at immortality died.

The world sped back to real time. Sylar turned slowly to look at Samson. He vaguely noticed Peter running from the room at top speed. In that moment all of his hatred and hunger and insanity burst from him. He let the monster out. There was no reason to keep it locked up anymore. He screamed as electricity lit up the room. It targeted everyone but his father, killing them instantly. He saw the fear in his father's eyes. He smiled. It felt so good to just let go.

He slammed his father back against the wall.

"You don't get off that easily."

"That wasn't me! You are the one who killed her! It is your fault!" his father screamed.

Sylar face contorted in pain. He knew it was true. It _was_ his fault. His one great love was dead and he was to blame.

"Yes, I know that. And I will spend an eternity paying for what I have done. I wish I could make you pay for an eternity, but I don't have that kind of patience."

He cut a deep wound into his father's stomach and he screamed in pain. He made sure not to hit an artery. He wanted this to be slow.

"You have taken everything from me."

He made another cut.

"My mother."

Another cut.

"My sanity."

Another.

"My son."

A deep one across his face.

"And now you have taken everything. I. Loved. Her."

With each of the three words he made another cut. His father was now a bloody mess.

"She was everything. She was the only thing stopping me from being a monster. You wanted me to not be a disappointment? You wanted the monster? Well now you have him."

He continued cutting slowly into his father's skin. Samson was now writhing and screaming in pain. Sylar marveled at his ability in torture. It made him smile.

"She was the only good I've ever had. All my life has been is suffering and enduring. She gave me a chance to actually live. And now you've taken the only thing stopping me from burning the damn world to the ground."

Samson screamed again when he made another deep gash on his face. The screaming really was getting irritating. He severed his vocal cords.

"You disgust me. You are so worthless and weak. Look at you. When it came down to it I was always more powerful than you."

He wriggled like a worm on the wall. It made Sylar want to puke.

"God, just die already."

He cut his throat and dropped him to the ground. He watched as all the life left his father's eyes. It was done. His father was finally dead. Yet he didn't care. None of it mattered. Claire was dead. The love of his existence was gone and nothing could ever bring her back. He dropped to his knees as it sunk in. Gone. He would never see her smile again. He would never watch as the sunlight danced off her hair. He would never marvel at her sleeping face again. It was all gone. His body couldn't even find tears. There was no action his body could think of that would show his amount of grieving. All he could do was cover his face with his hands.

He wanted to collapse and not get back up. He was so tired of fighting and moving on. But he couldn't do that, because he was Sylar. He was supposed to be strong. He would leave the others. He would go somewhere far away. Someplace he could control the monster. Just because Claire was dead, he still had to do what she would want. She would want him to be good. If there was a heaven, which he doubted, he wanted her to look down and be proud of him. He stood up slowly. He didn't want to turn and see the body.

"Sylar?"

His back went rigid. Now he was imagining her voice? Had he finally really gone insane? He turned around. There she was, standing tall and alive. There was no body on the floor, no blood. He frowned in confusion. What was going on? She took a step closer.

"Sylar, are you ok?"

All he could do was stare. "Claire, you were dead."

She raised her eyebrows. "Um, no I wasn't."

"Claire I… I saw you. My father saw you."

She shook her head. "Sylar I don't know what you are talking about."

Peter stepped around Claire. "Hey, I'm sorry man. I didn't want to have to do that to you but we knew the only way we could end this was if you got really mad."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

Peter nodded at Leah. "It was all part of the plan."

Sylar looked between the two as realization set in. "You made me see Claire dying? Just so that I would kill my father?"

Peter shrugged. "We had too."

Sylar was furious. If there was one thing he hated more than anything it was being used. Peter had used him. He felt the electricity begin to course over his body. He wanted to hit Peter and hit him hard. He balled his hands into fists. He began to walk towards him but Claire was suddenly blocking his way. She placed her hands on his face.

"Shh, Sylar it's ok. I'm not dead. I'm alive and I'm here with you. Isn't that what's important?"

He looked down into her eyes. They were eyes that he had thought he would never see again. He gently touched her face. She was right. He still had her. For forever. He smiled and kissed her.

"You're right."

She smiled. "You did it. Samson is actually dead."

He ran a hand through her hair. "I know. He'll never hurt you."

She rolled her eyes. "I was never afraid of him."

"Of course you weren't." he smirked.

There was a loud sound from the doorway and they both turned to see Kassy stumble in looking a little dazed and rubbing the back of her head.

"What did I miss?"


	30. Chapter 30

**OK so this is the final chapter! HOWEVER, I am considering writing a sequel that I have an idea for. Let me know if that is something you would be interested in and if you would read it! Thank you all so much for your support! **

**Chapter 30**

**Endings**

Claire rolled over in bed, reaching out for Sylar. When she realized he wasn't there she opened her eyes. The thick black curtains that covered the window made it difficult to tell what time it was, but she guessed it was midmorning. She could smell eggs cooking and smiled. Sylar had been cooking for her a lot lately. It had been a month since they had defeated Samson and they were getting on very well. Two weeks ago Sylar had blind folded her and drove her around the city. She had honestly been a little worried. He had led her up some stairs and opened a door. When he removed her blindfold she had discovered that they were in an upscale Manhattan apartment.

"I just thought you would want your own place." He had shrugged.

"_My _own place?"

"Well, yeah."

"Not ours?"

He had looked sheepish. "Well, I just didn't know if you were ready for that."

She had rolled her eyes and kissed him. "Sylar, I've pretty much bound myself to you for eternity. I don't think living together is much of a big deal."

She climbed out of bed now and walked down the hall. She found him in the kitchen flipping over some fresh blueberry pancakes. He wore only his sleeping pants and socks. When he turned to look at her she saw that he had flour smudged across his face. She giggled and wiped it off.

"Well look at you, the great and powerful Sylar, being all domestic."

He mentally pulled her towards him so that their bodies were pressed against each other. He leaned down and nibbled her ear.

"I could be a little wilder if that's what you want."

She laughed and pushed him away. "Calm down tiger, I never said a little domestic was a bad thing."

She climbed onto the stool by the counter as he served her breakfast. She checked her phone.

"Has anyone called?"

"Well, I got a lovely wakeup call from your father this morning."

Claire smiled. "What did he want?"

"Oh, the usual. Threatened to destroy my very existence if I hurt you and said that he would rather you date a toad than me. I was rather offended. I thought I was at least at the level of a monkey."

Claire just shook his head. "It'll take a while for him to get used to this."

"Yeah, maybe in seventy years he'll be able to not want to completely destroy me. Actually, probably not."

"Well did anyone else call?"

"Yeah, Kassy called."

"Oh? What about?"

"She said that she has some important things to talk to us all about. She gave me an address and said we should dress business professional. So naturally I plan on wearing jeans and a t-shirt."

Claire rolled her eyes. She wondered if it was some sort of universal law that brothers and sisters had to fight. Ever since he discovered that Kassy was his sister they had been disagreeing much more. He wouldn't admit it but she knew he liked that she was his sister. He loved her and now he had a reason for it. Though he had initially been really grossed out about it.

Sylar sat next to her and began to eat. Claire glanced around the room. She had hung several pictures up since they had moved in. One of them by the lake. One of Sylar carrying her through the threshold on their move in day like some sort of movie couple. Of course there was the one of them on their first date. Her eyes fell on the picture that sat near the mantle. It showed Claire sitting in a rocking chair and smiling thoughtfully down at her stomach. Sylar had taken it in secret shortly after they had discovered it was going to be a boy. That one hurt. She had considered not hanging it, but Sylar had convinced her. He had said that the best way they could honor their son was to remember him. She couldn't argue with that.

Sylar cleared his throat. Claire realized she had been sitting with her fork half way to her mouth for near a minute.

"Is everything ok?"

"Everything is great." She smiled.

She headed for the bathroom to take a shower. For the first week after they moved in they had really utilized having a shower that nobody could barge in on. Claire blushed a little when she thought about it. Once she was clean she wrapped herself in a towel and head towards their room. She heard Sylar on the phone and stopped to listen.

"Yeah, I know Laura. We really have settled in here."

Sylar listened to something Laura said. "Yeah that's fine. I can babysit for a few hours on Tuesday. It's really no problem; I have nothing else better to do."

Laura said something else. Sylar laughed.

"Tell Rose I miss her too. Ok, yeah. Alright, see you then." He hung up the phone and Claire walked out.

"Signing up for babysitting duty?" she joked.

"Yeah, well Rose keeps bugging Laura about seeing me and I actually really like Rose and Lily." He turned and looked at her. When he noticed her lack of clothing he smiled and walked closer.

"About how long do we have till you need to be ready?"

She laughed. "You would think you would get over wanting me so much."

He just shook his head. "Claire, even in a thousand years I won't be over it."

Two hours later they pulled up in front of a large building.

"What the hell?" Sylar muttered.

Claire realized what he meant. This was the building they had taken Laft to in order to torture him. Claire could see the dread written all over Sylar's face.

"What are we doing here? Why would Kassy want us to meet here?"

Claire shrugged. "I'm sure she has a good reason."

"She better." He frowned as they climbed out of the car.

It had been dark the last time Claire had seen the building but she was sure it looked far less shabby now. As they walked around to the front door they discovered a group of people already waiting. Peter was standing near Emma and was talking to Tracy and Edgar. Mohinder was animatedly talking to Hiro and Ando, who were both nodding their heads even though they probably had no clue what he was talking about. Matt was looking around as though scanning the area for danger. Even Micah and Molly were there. Peter saw them and waved.

"Hey guys, I was wondering when you would get here."

Sylar glanced at his watch. "We're only five minutes late. You act like Kassy is your boss or something."

As though summoned by her name Kassy opened to the door.

"Welcome everybody." She beamed.

"You better have a good reason for making me come back here." Sylar frowned.

In answer she stepped aside. They walked in hesitantly. Claire expected to see the huge expanse of the old factory, so she was very surprised when she walked into a very nice lobby. She frowned in confusing. _Were _they at the same building?

"Kassy, what is this?" Peter asked.

"Follow me and I'll explain."

They followed her to a set of elevators. Half of them went into one and the other half into the other. Kassy pushed the button with the three on it and they rose quickly. Once on the third floor Kassy stepped out and began to walk down the hall. They followed her. She walked through a glass door and they found themselves in a large conference room. Kassy sat at the head of the table and motioned for them to be seated as well. Sylar chose to sit at the opposite head of the table, not to be shown up, and Claire sat beside him. Once they were all seated Sylar spoke up.

"Ok, so we are here. Now will you tell us what this is all about?"

"This" Kassy smiled "Is our new headquarters."

They all stared at her.

"_What?" _Peter asked.

"Our headquarters." She said again.

"Um, for what?" Sylar frowned.

"For our new company."

Claire saw Sylar stiffen. "Company?"

"Yes. But this time we'll do it right. There will be no bagging and tagging. We will be here solely to support new specials. We'll help by offering housing and therapy. We can actually do some good here. How many of you would have been so much better off if you had had someone to explain everything to you and tell you it was going to be alright?"

"But you didn't even ask us if this is something we would want to do." Tracy frowned.

"Well, I figured it was a given that you would want to do what you loved while helping others like us." Kassy shrugged. "Look, I know this is a lot to drop on you but hear me out. We would all have our parts. I would be acting CEO, since I'm the one who created this company. Sylar would be president just like he's always want."

Sylar couldn't help but smirk at this.

"Tracy, you would be our link to the government. You would be the face of the company."

Tracy sat up a little straighter at this.

"Mohinder, you could lead a research team in all things special. You would have free range to do what you have always wanted. Peter you could…" she seemed to consider what she was going to say "Also be president. You and Sylar could work side by side. Emma could be our physician for any specials that come here hurt or injured who don't want to go to a government monitored hospital. Hiro and Ando, you could be our foreign affairs managers. You could help out with any of our kind that aren't in America. Matt, you can help out with the specials who aren't exactly model citizens and you could help us connect with those who don't trust us. Edgar, you would pretty much be the best bounty hunter ever since nobody could run from you."

"What about me?" Claire asked, suddenly feeling very unimportant. She had no skill that would help them.

"I was thinking that you could lead our help team."

"Help team?" Claire frowned.

"Yes. When we bring in new specials they will go straight to you. You can make them feel comfortable. You can give them an assessment and assign them to housing. You can help them find jobs and you can be someone they trust."

"So I'll pretty much be a parole officer?"

Kassy laughed. "Yes, I suppose so. A parole officer for people who have done nothing wrong and just need a bit of help. You could do a lot of good. Even Micah and Molly could help part time."

Claire had to admit that it sounded pretty nice. She didn't really know what she wanted to do with her life, but if she had to describe it, it would be what Kassy had just said. Everyone seemed to really be thinking about it.

"But what about financing?" Mohinder wondered.

Kassy rolled her eyes. "Mohinder, we have our very own gold machine."

As though to demonstrate Sylar turned the entire table to gold.

"Hey! That was mahogany!" Kassy cried.

Sylar laughed. "Well hell, I'm down. I have nothing better to do with my time."

Tracy nodded. "Me too."

Soon everyone around the table had agreed that they were in.

"Good." Kassy smiled. "Now I don't have everything planned or anything, but I was thinking you all could help. We will build this company together." Her eyes met with Sylars. "Like a family."


	31. Chapter 31

**Ok, so I have decided to write the sequel to this! I will post the first chapter tomorrow!**


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